Incipio Feather iPhone Case
I figured I’d only try it for a couple of days and then go running back to my Slider. However after two weeks, I have to say that I’m sticking with it. Overall I really love it.
It is thin. Its really thin. Compared to a slider, which I thought was a decently thin case, its incredibly slim. If the case didn’t have a lovely texture to it, you might not even realize it was there.
The texture really is lovely. It has a soft-mate feel. It is easily the nicest feeling case I’ve used.
The stops case itself stops below the chrome on the phone. At first it made me nervous, but now I’m getting used to it. I’m aided by the fact that the case came with two rather nice screen protectors. I would never use this case without a screen protector. The screen protector does not cover the chrome, but since the case lies so flat against the phone, if your phone does hit the floor face-down, the case will not prevent the screen from getting hit in any way.
I had read reviews of the white feather case that complained of it getting dirty and being very difficult to clean. After two weeks, I have not had any issue with this. However I tend to only keep my phone in a special pocket in my bag, so most of the time it doesn’t really have an opportunity to become dirty. So far it has stayed white with no issues at all.
I went in being pretty skeptical about this case, but all in all, its just a lovely case. I have posted more photos of the case on my flickr, check them out! :)
Jailbroken!
So! I took the plunge and jailbroke my iPhone 3GS last night. I have to admit that I was nervous about jailbreaking, even though I had jailbroken both my old iPhones (2G & 3G). Regardless, the process was extremely easy and went quickly and smoothly.
I was most concerned about the speed of the device after it was jailbroken. All around, I have to say, I’m very pleasantly surprised! Its still fast. Winterboard (the iPhone theming app for jailbroken iPhones) now has a setting to only load on the springboard, so it won’t slow down any apps. This makes a huge difference and the phone feels just as snappy as ever.
So far this is my most positive experience with a jailbroken phone. I just love it.
iPhone 3GS & iPhone 3.0 Firmware
The overall build feels better. The coating on the phone to prevent fingerprints seem to work sort of well, and gives the screen a lovely feeling. I almost don’t want to put a screen protector on it, but I know I have to.
The new voice control feature, while limited, is extremely cool. You can only control your music and make calls, but hey, its still a welcome feature, and I’m sure in the future it will have additional uses.
The compass is also neat, and while it might not be an app I’ll use constantly, I can see it being extremely useful (and not just while in the middle of the woods… I can see it being rather useful in the middle of a big city).
The camera. Tap-to-focus is a great feature. The fact is, I’ll always suck with the iPhone camera. I have issues holding it straight while pushing the button. However, I might manage to suck a little less, now. However there are times it seems that when you use tap-to-focus in certain low-light conditions, it actually causes the photo to become dramatically darker. But it does seem to work well in more optimal light conditions. Here is an example photo taken in kind-of decent light…
I really haven’t used the video camera enough to make any proper comments about it….
SEARCH. Namely, search for mail and for the iPod app. Easily my favorite thing to come out of the 3.0 Firmware update. This is just huge for my daily use of the phone.
Cut, Copy and paste is a welcome feature to finally have. Apple’s implementation is very well thought out. Its not perfect yet, I believe it can still be refined. Every now and then you tap and it doesn’t do what you expect, but overall, a very welcome feature.
Push notifications. Not many apps use push notifications yet, but I have used one, Beejive IM, that does, and it works very smoothly. If other apps (particularly Twitter iPhone apps) can implement push notifications, it can add a whole degree of usefulness to the phone.
It is just… fast. So fast and smooth. All the little delays I had become accustomed to are just gone. Waiting for the keyboard to pop up, waiting for the keys to type, waiting for apps to load, waiting for bookmarks to load, etc. All are now instant. Certain games and apps I’d have no interest in using on the phone, I now am interested in, just because of how much smoother they are all. The phone really is a joy to use.
Overall, if you have either one of the old iPhones, or if you never have and are looking into one, I’d highly recommend it. It really feels like the phone the iPhone was always supposed to be.
