Chris Pirillo » 3g

Are all iPhone Problems Apple’s Fault – or AT&T’s?

Chris — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:02:25 +0000

Are all iPhone Problems Apple’s Fault – or AT&T’s? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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My wife loves to remind me of the day that the iPhone was released. I had come up with a list of reasons why I would not get an iPhone. Thankfully, I have one now. I admit it… I’m an addict. It has its shortcomings, yes. But I still absolutely love it. I wanted to share this top five list with all of you that was sent in my Lamb0. It’s different from any iPhone top five I’ve done before. He feels that Apple isn’t the only one to blame for the shortcomings of the iPhone… he places much blame on AT&T, as well.

MMS – Almost every Verizon customer can send short video and picture messages. MMS would be an easy thing to implement as an App.
Tethering – Blackberry’s can do it. But, AT&T wants you to pick up a $60 addition to your bill. They want a portion of the tether, too. NetShare was an App out for a few days. It was taken down because AT&T doesn’t want it on the phone.
Banned Apps – Podcaster was banned recently. It downloaded a Podcast to the iPhone without having to be tied to WiFi. Podcasts are data-intensive, and AT&T doesn’t want that much going through their network.
Video – Why can’t I just record videos and save them on the phone? Emailing them would increase data use, again.
More Data – With every news article I read, it’s based on Apps that deal with data. The trend I notice is that with each App, it uses high amounts of data. People may feel they have an unlimited data package from AT&T. However, it’s not the same. More data could be pushed through if more data-intensive Apps were allowed.

He feels that Apple has treated him very well, and makes him happy. He’s not happy with AT&T at all. He feels that they do nothing but attempt to hold their customers back, and not give them the freedom to choose and use what they want.

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Griffin Clarifi Macro Lens for iPhone Camera

Chris — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:35:31 +0000

Griffin Clarifi Macro Lens for iPhone Camera is a post from Chris Pirillo

If you’ve always wanted to take macro shots with your iPhone 3G, you want the Griffin Clarifi. Here’s the original upload for best comparison purposes.

The Good Side of iPhone 2.0

Chris — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:59:19 +0000

The Good Side of iPhone 2.0 is a post from Chris Pirillo

Like anyone else who tunes into my live streaming life, Mr. Staggs knows that I am addicted to my iPhone. He personally has an iPod Touch, using the new 2.0 operating system software. During his transition to 2.0, he has come across some highs and lows that many people would not notice. He sent in his list of top three ‘good’ features, and the top three ‘bad’ ones, as well.

Good Features
Screen Capture I love having this!
YouTube Integration in Safari There’s nothing better than logging onto your website and seeing a link that will take me directly to the YouTube app for any given link… instead of seeing the blue box with question marks.
Video Play inside of Music app In the old iPhone operating system, all that would play is audio when listening to a podcast. Now, the video plays, and allows you to watch it upright or sideways.
Bad Features
Freezing! When apps are downloaded directly to the iPod Touch, many of them tend to freeze, or be extremely sluggish.
Please Hold As you have mentioned before, the reboots are slower with this new 2.0. It stinks when you’re out with friends trying to show off your new iPhone or Apps… and have to spend ten minutes rebooting the daggone thing. (YES, that’s an exaggeration!)
Still Waiting for Flash Yes, there are so many things that could be on the list. However, I. Want. FLASH!!!

What are your thoughts? What’s on your “good” list of new 2.0 features, and what’s on the “bad” side for you?

What is 3G?

Chris — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:19:11 +0000

What is 3G? is a post from Chris Pirillo

The Media is clueless on what 3G means. Some news reporters claim that “the three-gigabyte iPhone” was released. Some report that it’s the 3rd Generation iPhone. Ugh. I asked people over at Friendfeed just what exactly they think 3G means. The answers are interesting, for sure.

To be honest, I don’t even know what 3G means. 3Ghz band? – Aaron Brazell

Aaron- it stands for ‘Go wait in line while a Get a burrito because we’re going to be here all night. Goodnight…’what? they’re sold out?’ Greeeeat. – Ryan

That’s 4G! :) – Aaron Brazell

I’ll take a guess – 3G refers to the iPhone using the 3G or 3rd generation high-speed mobile phone data network? – Tad Donaghe

Yuck. I’ve seen this, too. Luckily our reporter didn’t even get into it, but I made sure I looked at her copy before the story was released. It’s not just the media though — lots of buyers are saying ridiculous things. Like, they’re buying this version of the iPhone because the OS is more of an open platform than the previous model. Ehhhh. I cut that quote, along with a quote about "speedier cell phone service." No, the phone service is not faster. – Kevin Hessel

iPhone 3G doesn’t mean 3G. – Chris Qie

I heard a Canadian reporter call it a G3 iPhone. Nice try lady, but you’re about three processor brands too late. ;-) – Cecily Walker

LOL @ 3rd Gen iPhone! Had that same discussion with the three iPhone users in my office. They swore this was the third gen phone, thus 3G. Ugh… – JA Castillo

So what DOES it mean already?!?! – Lisa L. Seifert

Gee, you mean ordinary non-technical people get confused by the mobile industry’s vast array of acronyms, and don’t even bother to try to comprehend? You don’t say? Seriously, you can say 3rd generation high-speed mobil phone data network but now try to explain what THAT means to someone who doesn’t really care. – Jason Wehmhoener

its the mobile phone standard/technology between 2g & 4g – mike dunn

G is for generation The original iPhone used the 2G GSM standard, but, because it took advantage of some updated standards for data, it was called a 2.5G phone. GSM and other 2G standards like CDMA are all digital, as distinguished from the first gen analog phones. 3G (of which there are a few competing standards) offers faster data transmission than the the fastest 2.5G data standardsstandards, and in theory can support higher quality voice too. 4G will be faster still. WiMax is sort of a 4g preview. – Erik S

People tend to lose interest when they hear an acronym explained with more acronyms. What’s the difference between GSM and CDMA? What makes 2.5G different from those? Why are there so many different incompatible standards? (I follow this stuff and have answers to these questions, but most people are just irritated by the whole mess) – Jason Wehmhoener

@Jason, (a) Not caring doesn’t excuse a journalist’s obligation to get the facts right, (b) a journalist’s job is to cut through the mumbo jumbo to make it understandable, (c) one would hope the reporter covering such an event is either a biz or tech reporter and they DO understand it. If that’s not possible, it doesn’t negate a and b, (d) they can avoid the issue and just call it faster because the average *reader* of an iPhone story as a news story (rather than as a tech story) probably doesn’t care – Kevin Hessel

Kevin I want to agree with you but the mobile phone technology space is fragmented beyond reason. I don’t expect a reporter on a culture beat to get it. – Jason Wehmhoener

Most people are clueless about 3G — they don’t care about the things we think they do. – Mitch Ratcliffe

The main stream media is generally clueless about tech. It never ceases to amaze me how lazy some reporters are. If they did just 5 minutes of research before writing or reporting on a story they would be 100% more informed and not look like idiots. Even here in silicon valley we still have reporters that fit this MO. – Jeff P. Henderson

1 – Who would want a 3 gb iPhone and 2 – All most people know about 3G is that its faster than whatever was on the 1st gen iPhone (EDGE). – Ethan

Well, they are THE media.. What do you expect? They are not geeks, like us. =) – Winston Teo

That’s almost as funny as their use of the word ‘hacker’ – Rob Fuller via twhirl

OHH…and i thought 3G stands for three grams. – Nir Ben Yona via twhirl

It gets worse: http://badwriting.plugly.net/3… – Jules

And they tell that old media are very careful about fact checking. As a blogger I at least have a habit to google everything I’m not 100% sure about. I have a feeling they are connected at least. – Svetlana Gladkova via twhirl

The reporter on the culture beat who isn’t sure talks to either the tech colunist or looks it up. That’s his or her JOB. – Cyndy

@Jules- wow, that has to be the worst. – Jake (aka Jawee)

Are this people even human? – Jim Williams

Here’s a wikipedia entry for 3G: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3… – imabonehead

What does 3G mean to you? I don’t want to see more of Wiki’s answers, nor something lifted from Apple’s website. What do you truly think?

How do You Test Mobile Broadband Speeds?

Chris — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:04:55 +0000

How do You Test Mobile Broadband Speeds? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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What tool do you use to benchmark your Internet connection speed? If you’re on a desktop, I know many of you use SpeedTest. But what about your mobile web experience? If you’re on an Edge connection, are you getting true Edge speeds? What about if you’re on a 3G connection, or even wifi?

iNetwork Test began with the creation of a basic iPhone web application that inferentially measured the speed of the network the device was connected to. The interest in the application was overwhelming with over half a million results collected to date. The need for reliable, easy to use mobile network testing solutions is one that will continue to grow as more mobile devices infiltrate the marketplace and newer, faster networks come online.
iNetwork Test is developing a suite of solutions for a variety of platforms starting with the iPhone and Android platforms. These tests are more reliable providing a true speed measurement at the lowest possible level of the stack as allowed by the various software development kits.

This service is free. Simply click “start test”, and a few seconds later it gives you results. It will ask you how you’re connected to the Internet, and gives you a more detailed answer based on your connection type. If there’s a question on whether or not you’re getting the speeds you are supposed to, this service will help. Doing one-offs isn’t really the best idea, because it won’t give you a good representation of your average speeds. Run the test at different times during the day. Try to keep as many variables the same as possible, also.

Also on the site, you can view other people’s connection speed results. Are people in your locale getting the same kinds of speeds as you? If not, you’ll know there could be a problem with your service that may needs to be addressed.

To my knowledge, this service is the only one that works for testing out your 3G and even Edge speeds. Maybe you know of something else? If you do, let me know about it, and I’ll be happy to check it out.

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Why I Hate Salespeople: AT&T Pisses Me Off

Chris — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:21:03 +0000

Why I Hate Salespeople: AT&T Pisses Me Off is a post from Chris Pirillo

Yesterday, I was hoping to find an iPhone 3G (duh). I drove past the local AT&T store a few times and always found quite a line. Decided I’d wait until it died down before going in. “Surely,” I thought. “The Apple Stores would be 100x as busy on a day like today.”

I came back to the AT&T store at 2pm, finding no line at all. The madness must’ve subsided. I traipsed in, thinking there’d still be a few people waiting inside. I was approached by a clerk almost immediately, and I asked the inevitable question. “We’re out, but I can put your name on a list and we’ll order one for you!”

“Nah,” I said. “I’m going to check to see if the Apple Stores have ‘em first.” I should have stopped right there, walked out to my car, and drove away. Instead, I decided to listen to the commission-driven jacka$$ and his presumptive logic.

“By now, all of the stores around town have likely sold out as well.” He had an awkward look on his face, as if he was showing genuine empathy. Unfortunately, his statement seemed plausible enough for me to stop the search and just put my name on the list. I decided to put down the money for two iPhone 3G units (one for me and one for Ponzi), thus cutting off any possibility of getting the phone elsewhere. You can’t cancel this order, my friends. That’s AT&T’s policy, which I do fully understand.

It was my fault for listening to a salesperson. It was my fault for not trusting my own instinct. It was my fault for not looking elsewhere. But why wouldn’t that guy have called around for me, if he was really trying to provide customer service? Why wouldn’t he have suggested I look elsewhere, knowing that I’d have to use AT&T with the iPhone, anyway? Why would I, as a long-standing AT&T customer… nevermind.

Long story short, as of 9pm last night, several local Apple stores still reported having 16g iPhones in stock. I could’ve had one yesterday, or I certainly could have had one today. Instead, I have to wait for an *INDETERMINABLE* amount of time for AT&T to get the phone shipped out to one specific store. That could be a week, that could be two weeks, that could be a month, that could be two months – that could be as long as it takes, and I can’t back out of the deal.

So, here I am… really pissed off at AT&T’s idea of customer service, and REALLY pissed off at myself.

Is the iPhone 3G Worth Buying?

Chris — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:06:59 +0000

Is the iPhone 3G Worth Buying? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I don’t think I’ll be standing in line for the release of the iPhone 3G, although I will be getting one. I do access the Internet frequently from my first gen iPhone, and here in Seattle we have the 3G Network. It will be worth it for me to have one. But overall, for the majority of people, is it worth shelling out money to upgrade?

I will likely be getting the 16GB version of the new Apple iPhone 3G. The one I have now is only an 8GB. I’ve never run out of space, but I like knowing that I have more than enough. Knowing there are going to be tons of new apps in the App Store, many of those free, I know I’ll be maxing myself out downloading them.

I have a top five reason list as to why you shouldn’t “trade up” for the new iPhone 3G. This isn’t my list, it was sent to my by community member Pat. Let’s take a look at why Pat feels you should save your money. His reasons are valid points, but are very lengthy, so I’m going to paraphrase them.

The iPhone 2.0 operating system will work perfectly on the first gen iPhone. There aren’t many extra features in the newest version. You’ll get a standard headphone jack, the 3G processor, and the GPS. For those who do already need some type of GPS on their iPhone, the first generation has a feature using cell towers and wi-fi hotspots to pinpoint your location. If you don’t need GPS and you’re not in an area that is 3G capable… then you don’t really want a new iPhone.
If you already spent quite a lot of money on one of the new iPhones, why would you spend more to buy a phone with just a slight upgrade? Apple could drop the price in the near future. The iPhone 3G is just a slight upgrade, so you may want to hold out until Apple releases a phone with a much larger difference. $200 for something that could possibly be faster and has a newer design isn’t that much. But, it’s just not something you need to spend money on.
iPhones have strict contracts that cannot be canceled easily. If you are already under contract with AT&T for an iPhone, you are stuck with your contract for two years. Your only option to upgrade to the iPhone 3G is to get yourself a new number. It remains to be seen whether AT&T or Apple will allow us to change the current generation iPhone and use it as just an iPod, or not. If I buy the 3G, what can I do with this old model? Or will I just have to have it sit on a shelf? I will likely turn mine into some cold, hard cash.
The new iPhone contract is more expensive than the old one. You may be paying for features you won’t even use. Since you cannot cancel your contract, you’ll be paying for two at the same time. You will not only have to go through the trouble of adjusting to a new phone number, you’ll also have new fees as well. While the new iPhone hardware is cheaper, the service contract is more expensive. Home users will be paying $10.00 per month more, while business users will pay an additional $25.00 a month. The reason why Apple had to lower the price of the hardware is due to the rising cost of the service.
If you’re not in an area that doesn’t have 3G capability, then you won’t be taking advantage of the 3G features. What is the point then? AT&Ts 3G networks are only found in the most populated areas. If you live in the suburbs or a smaller town, you may never be able to use them. AT&T is still working on expanding the 3G network, but it will likely take quite awhile to make it out of large cities.

Yes, the hardware is going to be faster. But in my mind, the best reason to upgrade to the new 3G is the GPS. Do your homework, weigh everything out carefully. Then, make your decision as to what is best for you.

What do you think? Is the iPhone 3G over-hyped? Is it a welcome addition to your pocket?

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Thoughts on Apple’s WWDC 2008, iPhone 3G?

Chris — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:11:17 +0000

Thoughts on Apple’s WWDC 2008, iPhone 3G? is a post from Chris Pirillo

The keynote for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference has come and gone. I can’t say that all of my expectations were met, but I can say this:

iPhone 3G should be a “no brainer” upgrade from the current iPhone. ~~Not only will it be substantially cheaper, but substantially faster as well.~~ As Boing Boing points out, there’s a gotcha with the price point of iPhone 3G – the unit itself may be cheaper ($199 versus $399), but the new data plan is more expensive than today’s ($30 – $45 for 3G versus $20 for EDGE). It’s not quite a wash, as you pay for service indefinitely.
Everyone, mark your calendars for July 11th.
Good on Apple for releasing the iPhone 2.0 OS for current generation iPhones (EDGE) as well as the iPhone 3G. Everybody will be able to enjoy the new App Store.
I could be mistaken, but it seems that creative apps (music, video, photo, etc.) will be more popular than games on the iPhone 3G.
If $9.99 is the going price for the average iPhone app, I’m going to be spending a lot more money than anticipated. For an app that you use all the time, that’ll be a bargain.
I’m happy to see that Apple is enabling the distribution of free apps on the iPhone without charging the developers anything.
I’m already a .Mac subscriber, and will welcome MobileMe with open arms when it’s released. Ponzi and I currently use Rackspace for Exchange service – and without custom domains, we may have to continue to use it and Plaxo to sync between accounts. Still, I hope we can rely on MobileMe for group calendaring and tasks. I’m still looking into how MobileMe will interoperate with Exchange, though. Can’t wait to watch the tour this afternoon.
Looks as though the seventh release of the iPhone SDK is out.
The next iteration of Mac OS X will be called Snow Leopard, set to be released within a year. No new features beyond native support for Exchange are set to be included. With it, they aim to support newer hardware architectures (like multiple CPUs) as well as fix what’s already in place. It’s an evolutionary upgrade that oughta bring more speed and stability to the Mac you’re using today.
No word on whether iPhone 3G will support video recording / uploading or not. Maybe someone at YouTube is looking into the SDK (if the SDK will enable such an experience).
I’ve never been in love with GPS hardware and software, but the iPhone 3G is certain to spoil me.
The “Apple Push Notification Service” will be the way background apps on mobile devices should have been all along. Instead of sucking up battery and CPU in the background, apps can call upon the service for updates remotely. Naturally, this will require a constant connection to the ‘Net – but when aren’t you connected these days?

If you were listening to the keynote, what are your thoughts about Apple’s announcements and plans?

Sprint UpStage EVDO

Chris — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:15:18 +0000

Sprint UpStage EVDO is a post from Chris Pirillo

I’m a member of the Sprint Ambassador program, which means they’ve supplied me with test equipment in the past. A few weeks ago, I received an UpStage in the mail – and couldn’t wait to give ‘er a whirl. I have yet to try downloading any kind of content with the device, although that’s a huge selling point for users who appreciate convenience.

I’ve been too busy futzing with the damn Cingular Blackjack and its lack of charging-by-USB to busy myself with other phones on other mobile networks. The UpStage does not charge by USB, either – which is a tremendous shortcoming and engineering oversight (in my very humble opinion). To add insult to injury, neither one has a mini-USB port.

With the last Ambassador lease, I tethered the Samsung SPH-a920 to my Thinkpad and used it (largely) as a modem, which allowed me to get online without draining the battery for my old “normal” cell phone (the Cingular 2125).

Here’s the message the team just sent to me the other day, regarding connectivity via Bluetooth in OS X:

The Sprint Ambassador Team wants to reach out to you for solutions. Since launching Phase III, we’ve received multiple requests on how to connect your Phone-As-A-Modem with a Mac via Bluetooth. In Phase I, an Ambassador posted a great work-around way of doing this with the Samsung A920.
A few of you have tried this same solution, but have reported to us that you’re unable to make it work with the new Samsung phone. We understand that the Phone-As-Modem feature has been one of the most popular among Ambassadors. Unfortunately, Sprint currently doesn’t have official instructions for how to do this on a Mac, but we greatly valued the publicly shared instructions provided by NoDRM, so we wanted to open this up to you all for help.
If you have a successful solution to pairing your Samsung phone-as-a-modem with a Mac, please email us back your instructions and we’ll be sure to try it out. If it works, we’ll send it out to all the Sprint Ambassadors (of course, crediting you) so that we can build a shared knowledge.

I’m ~~happy~~ thrilled to report that I had no problems getting the UpStage to act as a Bluetooth modem on OS X. Astounded, actually, at how simple it was to set up (per nodrm’s instructions). I didn’t even dare try it in Windows, given the painful Bluetooth experiences I’ve had with XP and Vista in the past. Moreover, I’m starting to take the Macbook with me on trips more and more. Why? It just works (especially power management)!

As a side note, the UpStage’s EVDO is much faster than my ClearWire connection – palpably. ClearWire makes for a great backup Internet service, but I don’t know if I could necessarily recommend ‘em as a primary ISP (no matter how much you may hate the phone or cable company). Still waiting for someone to get back to me on Gnomedex sponsorship, although I’m not holding my breath.

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

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Network Tools for Windows

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

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