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iPhone Review

I just got the new iPhone 3G from work. I never had a "smart" phone before, so I wont do much comparison with other smart/pda phones such as the treo or blackberry as I have no experience with them whatsoever.

Pros

Email/MS Exchange
I can check all of my email (work and personal) anytime, anywhere. Love the integration/sync of MS Exchange. All of my work contacts and calendar appointments are only a tap away.
Touch Screen
Apple did an excellent job of matching what feels natural to us with its gestures ie. swiping left to right as if Im turning a page of a book or zooming in or enlarging.
Browser
Viewing the Internet on a phone using a "real" browser is great. I dont like phones that use some custom internet viewer and web pages that are slimmed down to support them. I want to view web pages exactly as they are as if I was using my computer.
Apps
I like the wide variety of useful apps that I can download directly to my iPhone ie. Weather, Notes, To do lists, Tip Calculator, Games, etc.
Voicemail
Listening to voicemail with 1 click. No more will I have to dial my own phone number, press #, type in my password, and press 1 to listen to my messages.
Camera
When taking a photo, the entire screen is used making it very easy. I can also turn the iPhone sideways for wider coverage.
Graphics
2 words...Eye Candy. The graphics look so crisp and clear especially on a black background. I just want to eat those little application "pills".
Earphone Headset
Not only can you listen to your music, but you can also answer phone calls with it. The earphones have a small microphone on the wire. Dual purpose. I like it.

Cons

3G
What 3G? I dont see it. Where is it? They should rename the phone to 3E (E stands for the slow Edge network) because I never get 3G. I cant even get it in San Francisco of all places. Not sure on where to put the blame, but there are only 2 choices - Apple or AT&T.
Battery life
Your lucky if it lasts a full day without charging. In otherwords, you will need to carry around a charging cable where ever you go. Here are some battery saving tips from Apple.
No filesystem
Cant store any files on an iPhone except for music (mp3s) of course. Yes, that means I cant store any word, excel, or pdf files. I can only view them when they are attachments in my email. I wanted to store a Caltrain pdf schedule on my iPhone, but cant even do that. Yes, I can go directly to Caltrain's website every single time to open the pdf, but then that would take too long especially when I dont get 3G.
Keyboard
Typing on the iPhone takes some getting use to, since the keyboard is on the screen itself. So you definitely wont type as fast as the Blackberry or Treo, but then again, the iPhone looks better. The on screen keyboard does get larger when you turn the iphone sideways, but it doesnt work for emailing or texting. Eh? What's up with that? Also, the iPhone has an auto complete feature where it tries to complete the word that you are typing. It does not work well and is sometimes really annoying. There are times where I want to misspell a word or use an acronym on purpose, but it will obtrusively auto complete it for me no matter what I do.
Crashes
Sometimes, when you are displaying a web page or using an application, the iPhone can all of a sudden crash. Usually, the browser or application just quits. But in some cases, you have to restart the iPhone itself.
Pricey Accessories
For example, the USB charging cable costs $19 and the outlet power adapter which is sold separately costs $29. So that means if I wanted an extra charger, I will have to fork over an extra $48 just to charge my iPhone over a plug outlet? Ridiculous. Talk about Monopoly.
No Picture Messages
You can send text messages, but you cant send picture messages. Weak. Instead, you can only send pictures as email attachments.
No Software
Does not come with or work well with any software except for iTunes. I wish you could use Outlook or something to be able to sync contacts or notes or something. I only use iTunes to sync music or to update the firmware. But I guess that's what MobileMe (paid subscription) is for syncing with the "cloud" vs. a local desktop.
No Copy and Paste

Conclusion
The iPhone is only halfway there.

Labels: cool, electronics, reviews

9.16.2008 :: 1 comments permalink

Free Google Phone Number

A while back I posted the ability to create disposable phone numbers in order to protect the privacy of your existing phone number. I found a similar service with many features by GrandCentral which was recently aquired by Google. There are many cool features, but I will touch upon a few.

Permanent Local Phone Number - There is a subtle but important difference between the Numbr and GrandCentral phone number. For the Numbr phone number, you have to dial an extension which does require a little more work for the user. Not only that, I think that users might be a little weary of dialing a phone number with an extension. Users are more used to dialing extensions when calling companies. So its a bit weird to call a craigslist person with an extension in my opinion.

Ring Multiple Phones - So you can add multiple phones to your one GrandCentral phone number. For example, when someone calls your GrandCentral number, your cell phone AND home phone can ring. Therefore, you can answer the call by either phone.

Listen to Voicemails Online - This is probably my most favorite feature. Voicemails are recorded and can be played online in your GrandCentral account. I wish Verizon Wireless had this feature. I would love to listen to my voicemails online instead of always having to dial and punch in my password. Not to mention wasting valuable peak time minutes just for listening to my voicemails. This can also help you to screen your calls. Sometimes, you just want people to leave you a voicemail especially from uknown callers. Recently, I just used my GrandCentral number to sell something on craiglist. Usually, in terms of fairness, its first come first serve. But I found it to be more beneficial for me to sell it to one person over another. For example, I sold my desk on craiglist today. I wanted to sell it to someone who had a truck or van because I didnt want to disemble the desk. If I answered my first phone call, then I would be obliged to sell it to that person. But I intentionally did not answer calls from my GrandCentral number and just let my voicemail inbox fill up. Then I just chose the person who had a van and "sounded" the most reliable.

Feel free to leave me a voicemail by clicking on the button below.

4/2/08 Update: Someone just told me that they could not immediately sign up for the service since they are in private beta. Looks like you can just "reserve" a number (whatever that means). I wouldnt be surprised if they ran out of local phone numbers to give out. It also says on the site that a current user would be able to invite others, but I dont see that option in my account. They might have temporarily removed that as well.

Labels: cool, internet, reviews, tips