Miscellaneous Ramblings.... - iPod/iTunes

iPhone 2.0.2 Released

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:27:39 -0500

Apple has released iPhone software update 2.0.2. Again, details on what is exactly fixed is not forthcoming from Apple, so the end user must look to user comments in various sites (Engadget, TUAW & MacNN).
Some users are reporting snappier performance, better 3G signal, fewer crashes, as well as no more annoying contacts or keyboard lags. I have upgraded my iPhone to the 2.0.2 firmware update, so I'll be back with feedback after a little bit more usage.
(just a heads-up, the update is 242MB to download).

Update ( 08/22/08 ): Perhaps not too surprisingly, some users are still reporting issues with 3G even after the latest firmware update.

Some iPhone App Store review sites...

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:38:45 -0500

Thanks to TechCrunch, I found a couple a good iPhone App review sites: AppVee and App Store Apps.
AppVee does more in-depth reviews, while the App Store Apps site is more of a review/tricks-n-tips site. Needless to say, I have both of them bookmarked in my del.icio.us account.

Update (08/18/08): Also stumbled across this site today: iPhoneAppPodCast - had a decent review of NowLocal, the new iPhone App that I have been involved in.

iPhone 2.0.1 Released

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:19:13 -0500

Apple has released iPhone software update 2.0.1. Details on what the release fixes are more easily snagged from other sites than from Apple - however, reports trickling in from end users.
Unfortunately, the software update does not correct one of my more annoying issues - the excessively long backup times when syncing the iPhone. Too early to tell yet, but the other annoying issue ( intermittent long pauses when accessing the Contacts function ) seems to be improved.
In related news, apparently Apple is seeding a third beta of iPhone 2.1 to developers.

iTunes 7.7.1 Released

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Fri, 1 Aug 2008 06:25:00 -0500

iTunes 7.7.1 has been released. This version seems to be a maintenance release, with bug fixes that promise more stability.
(Sadly it doesn't fix the infernally long iPhone sync times )

Life with iPhone 3G

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:02:00 -0500

One week with the new iPhone and I had promised to post my initial impressions.
For starters, I suppose the biggest plus is that I have an iPhone at all , especially hearing the news of shortages around the country, which are rumored to last maybe another month.
It should be noted that I am somewhat merging both the iPhone and the 2.0 software review into one.

Pros:

3G Network - I am so happy to be able to leave the Edge network behind, I could care less if the 3G network drains my iPhone battery down to nothing.

Integrated GPS - can anyone say GeoCaching? Also is very nice with GoogleMaps (especially if you are directionally challenged - not that I would know anything about that )

App Store - In my own defense, I will leave out the amount of money that I have spent on apps, but will admit to blogging far more useless information now that I have the Twitterific and Facebook iPhone apps installed. (And I will also leave out the amount of time sunk into playing Aurora Feint and Trism ).

Louder Speaker - There has been some debate about this around the net, but I can now hear my movies without having to practically insert the phone in my ear.

Better Network detection - Supposedly one of the reasons for the plastic back on the phone was for better coverage - seems to work for me.

Better Screenshot features - Can take easily take or capture Safari web browser images (via zooming in on the image and pressing and holding until the "Save" option comes up) or capture a screenshot of the whole screen.

Cons:

Slowness with the 2.0 software - There seem to be two main schools of thought (see comments in article) on this issue:

1.) Upgrading to the previously leaked firmware ( 5A347 as opposed to 5A345, which is the default firmware version that is installed on most phones )

2.) In the Settings --> Fetch New Data -->
Set Push to "Off" and Fetch to "Manually"
~~This seemed to work for me - definitely didn't notice the annoying several second lag when bringing up contacts and trying to select or search.~~
Update (7/22/08): Sadly this doesn't seem to work.

Slowness with iTunes Sync - This seems to be an issue/feature? with the new software wanting to back up everything - supposedly after the first full successful backup incremental backups are supposed to be faster, but not seeing it at this end yet....

No Cut and Paste?!?! - Enough said on this one!

No Syncing of Notes?! - Fortunately thanks to the iPhone app Evernote, this isn't as much of an annoyance as it could have been.

AT&T charging an additional $5.00 for SMS messages - This is more of a complaint against AT&T then the iPhone per say, but it does feel like AT&T is doing a little bit of the old nickel-n-dime action here.

For another opinion on the 2.0 software, my coworker has weighed in with thoughts (twice ) - I should note that I installed the eBay mobile app purely on this recommendation, so if I go bankrupt from uncontrollable bidding, it is not my fault.

iTunes 7.6.2 Released

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Thu, 3 Apr 2008 10:13:49 -0500

iTunes 7.6.2 has been released. It seems that this release is a fairly minor release aimed at correcting bug fixes and improving stability.

Java for the iPhone (at last?)

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Sat, 8 Mar 2008 16:20:00 -0600

Sun has committed to providing a JVM for the iPhone with the new software SDK.
(now if we could just get Adobe Flash on the iPhone )

iPhone 1.1.4 Released

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:41:09 -0600

As everyone in iPhone-land knows by now, Apple released firmware update 1.1.4 for the iPhone yesterday. There doesn't seem to be any major improvements with this release and of course, speculation is rife that the purpose of this firmware update is to lay the ground work for the upcoming iPhone SDK. On a related note, it appears that the iPhone jailbreak app, ZiPhone still does work with firmware update 1.1.4, although the developer is advising users to wait a couple of days until it is fully tested with firmware 1.1.4.
(For the impatient ones, iNdependence, another jailbreak utility, has been updated to version beta 5 which is supposed to work with 1.1.4).

iTunes 7.6.1 Released

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:09:27 -0600

iTunes 7.6.1 has been released. Looks like this is a fairly minor release containing some bug fixes as well as adding support for Apple TV version 2. Also, according to MacRumors, Apple has notified iTunes customers through its weekly email, that they will be offering a different $0.99 movie rental every Thursday.

Newer iPhone (& iPodTouch) Models

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Tue, 5 Feb 2008 18:21:27 -0600

Apple introduced new higher capacity iPhone and iPodTouch models today. The iPhone is now available in 8GB and 16GB models, while the iPodTouch is now available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB models.

Free & Legal P2P Music Downloads on the way?

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:19:45 -0600

Now that DRM (within the music industry at least) seems to be on the wane, there is speculation that paid music downloads might be following as well. Fueling the speculation is the launch of Qtrax (which has all four major labels (EMI, SonyBMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group) signed). The front page of their website boasts availability of over 25 million songs, but a big initial drawback (IMHO) is that the downloaded songs are not compatible with iPods and have to be played via a proprietary player. Another drawback is that the service is Windows-only (at least for right now) .

A P2P music tangent, is a nice TechCrunch article on the some of the music download search engines available.

Update (1/29/08): Well, it seems like QTrax really messed up it's initial launch. For other prospective small businesses, it is usually wise to do the launch after getting signed contracts with your partners (especially if they are key to your success). Evidently, QTrax pulled the grand move of launching before getting signed agreements from 3 of the 4 records labels (the unsigned three say only that "talks are in progress").

Additional Issues with the 1.1.3 Firmware update

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:04:12 -0600

Over at TUAW, there have been some additional reports of miscellaneous problems with the latest 1.1.3 firmware update.
Some of the user reported issues:

Loss of sound from the speakers

Less stable than the 1.1.2 update

Bluetooth devices that worked with 1.1.2 no longer work

For some of the issues, users have found work-arounds (i.e. for the loss of sound, simply plugging and unplugging headphones into the iPhone seems to do the trick.

Update (01/19/08): According to iLounge, there have been several user reports of the 1.1.3 firmware update actually fixing phones that were bricked by previous firmware updates.

Update (02/01/08): It looks like there is an (updated) jailbreakme.com to jail break the 1.1.3 firmware version. Yeah!

iPhone 1.1.3 Released - Problems with Gmail

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:57:06 -0600

At last, iPhone firmware 1.1.3 has been released.
Among the new features:

Google Maps "Locate Me" feature (as well as the cool hybrid feature)

Re-arranging of iPhone home page (including dock)

Can drag and drop applications onto the home page

Webclips (essentially MobileSafari bookmarks on the home page)

Multiple SMS messaging

(Note: if you own a iPodTouch, you need to purchase the software update for $20).

However, there have been some bumps with the latest release. Among the issues is a problem with GMail. Essentially, the GMail protocol on the iPhone has been changed from POP to IMAP, causing a sync of GMail folders (which can be good or bad, depending on how you have your main GMail account set up). To work around this behavior, you can manually configure POP or manually configure IMAP.
As for me, despite the cool Google Maps features, I still can't quite part with my free 3rd party apps, so I'll be waiting for the jailbreak for this firmware, which is not yet available, but there is this status page up to track when one becomes available.

As a (unannounced) side note, with iTunes 7.6, you can finally manually manage music and videos on your iPhone -- hallelujah!
(still no official iPhone disk mode, but getting closer ).

Update (4/17/08): It looks like IMAP support has been pulled from GMail (not sure yet if this is temporary or permanent).

Use Your iPhone To Look Up Radio Artist & Song

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Tue, 8 Jan 2008 06:43:00 -0600

From over at the TUAW site comes a neat article on a app called Listen. It allows you to look up the artist and name of a song playing on the radio by holding your iPhone close to your radio while the song is playing. Definitely one of the more cool iPhone hacks that I have come across.

Disclaimer: this software is very much in beta (as the author clearly states) - use at your own risk.

Sony Finally Axing DRM - Hallelujah!

nospam@example.com (Colleen Velo) — Sat, 5 Jan 2008 11:52:10 -0600

In yet more proof that Apple iTunes has significant muscle in the online music business, Sony has decided to stop using DRM. According to BusinessWeek, it is so that Sony can compete more effectively against the Apple iTunes store in what is being called the "lucrative downloads market".
(Excuse me, haven't a significant amount of music listeners been saying for years that this is how they wanted their music? )