iPhone 3Gs First Impressions

After waiting maybe 30 minutes or so, maybe longer, in the ATT store, I finally walked away with my new iPhone. I had the pleasure of getting my phone at the ATT store because I had recently changed my phone number. Doing that apparently reset the upgrade timings, which ATT had to override. Over the ATT employees blamed the slow servers, but I'm not sure that was the whole story... So I was cheated the retail experience that I deserved.

Once I got home, I simply restored my last backup from the old phone to the new phone. This took another half hour and then I let the phone charge for awhile.

The new 3Gs is definitely faster. I just ran a few side by side Safari comparisons with apple.com, nyt.com, and npr.com. While I didn't actually time it, it's probably fair to say the new model is twice as fast.

Probably my favorite new feature is the voice commands. It seems very accurate and has yet to error. The array of commands are quite broad really. I'm wouldn't be surprise to see voice commands to show up in OS X in a similar fashion.

The camera is much improved. Focus and exposure is controlled by touching the desired area of the frame. Very slick. The exposure range is significant in a contrasty frame. The focus has less of an impact. I've yet to play much with the video capture, but it appears quite easy to use.

iPhone 2.0

Despite the slew of articles reporting activation problems with the new iPhones and software updates on the existing phones, my update went smoothly. I was hoping the software would be available late Thursday night or early Friday morning. But not so much. Apple was dead set on getting everything timed just right. And sure enough, they got a big fat server meltdown. I waited until around 7 last night - no problems.

I had already downloaded maybe a dozen apps from the Apps Store. As soon as the software update was complete, I piled on the programs (most are under a megabyte). So far, my favorites include Weatherbug (the radar view is great for watching the afternoon Florida thunderstorms), Remote, which turns the iPhone into a remote for household computers and AppleTVs. So there's no need to get off the couch to select a new song. The New York Times app is also pretty solid. I tried a French translator program which contains a good range of phrases (complete with audio) - everything from finding the bathroom to pick up lines. And I bought the game Enigmo - also impressive, but it seems to a battery drainer.

iPhone 2.0

I finally had a chance to watch Apple's latest keynote presentation from a couple weeks ago. This was a developer conference so it's a little dorky, but all geekery aside, take a look at the first section of the keynote. In it, you'll see some incredible software demos that will be ready for the iPhone 2.0 software release - via the iTunes App Store.

The software, ranging from games to medical imaging applications, is amazing! These applications aren't just shinnied down desktop programs. Instead, many are uniquely suited to the iPhone interface itself by taking advantage of the touch features and accelerometers.

iPhone Fun to Come

I'm sitting here watching today's iPhone SDK presentation.    SDK stands for software development kit.    Basically, Apple has created a programming environment that will allow people to create applications for the iPhone.   Some of the tech speak was beyond me, but the demoed sample software was pretty slick.   A few games were shown that use the full functions of the touch screen and accelerometer.   Nintendo Wii games came to mind.  Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a few Wii games converted to the iPhone platform. 

But games weren't the sole focus.   AOL IM was shown along with SalesForce marketing tools, and even Epocrates, a mobile drug guide for the health care industry (and the consumer). Check out their consumer lookup using the link.    

Apple is also going right after the Blackberry market with the announcement of a major behind the scenes infrastructure change to the phone.  If I'm able to use my phone for work I'm sure I'll prefer using using it over MS Outlook any day of the week.   I may even want to check my work email on the weekend.   Find me a full size keyboard, and I'll never use Outlook again. 

It's also great to see that all the new applications, which we'll start to see in June, will also be available on the iPod Touch.  

The growth for Apple may be just beginning.  

Shopping for a new PC

No, not for me. Bonnie's old laptop has about had it. With the old USB ports, it takes her what seems like hours just to load a few songs to her iPod. Even with Apple's marketing muscle (including the very amusing new Vista attack ads) and my testimonials (which might have worked against me), she insisted on getting a PC with Vista. The last Windows machine I bought was my original college computer, about 10 years ago. I don't know the first thing about the virus software and I tend to shun the idea of shelling out another few hundred bucks for an extended warranty, so I wasn't much help in the process.

Our first stop was the local Circuit City. She found a model she liked on sale, but of course it was out of stock. We asked the associate (it appeared to be his first day at work) if models were in stock at other stores. He found a few but didn't know which stores were which (they were only identified in the system by store zip code). After the first couple blank stares, he finally was able to call and confirm the stock at a store about 20 miles away. Incidentally, I was able to find the other store's phone number faster on my iPhone than he was. It was a nice day for a little road trip, so we jumped back in the car and headed to Orange Park.

Arriving at the second Circuit City, we headed in to find another sales rep. Of course, whenever you actually need assistance the reps are nowhere to be found. Finally, the Fire Dog (Circuit City's Geek Squad equivalent) employee helped us out. But all he was good for was making the sale and pushing the warranty. He didn't even know (but admitted that he should) if Bonnie could use the Vista Office Upgrade, or if she would have to buy the full version. So then she had to stand in line for about 20 minutes just to get the box. I browsed the TVs and Wii games, twice.

Sure, I'm biased to Macs. But the PC buying experience is so terrible it shouldn't take Apple to improve it. All the laptops are braced to the counters with heavy steel bars. How can you really get a feel for the machine when it's so locked up? The machines don't have any meaningful software installed (unless you include Vista itself). And an Internet connection? Keep dreaming. Circuit City has free wifi (which my iPhone picked up quite well), but it's of no use to the toys they're supposedly selling. All the network connectivity is turned off.

It'll be interesting to see how the initial setup of the machine goes tonight. I can't wait to see what curves Vista will throw at us.

I've been debating about selling a few shares of my Apple stock. The run up has been quite solid. But after today, I think I'll keep holding on.

Back Home

We've settled back in from our San Francisco vacation. Those red eye flights are brutal. Anyway, I got a few good photos. I'm going through them now, hopefully they'll be posted this weekend. Vacation photography is tough. You never know what to expect and odds are that someone has a better shot posted on Flickr.

I've been asked several times what I'm going to do with my iPhone refund. Yes, I probably paid too much for my iPhone. But as MacWorld says, that's the price for a few months of 'cool'. I've a got a few goodies in mind - unfortunately they're all a little more than $100.