View from my terrace taken with iPhone 4
View from my terrace taken with iPhone 4
View from my terrace taken with iPhone 4
View from my terrace taken with iPhone 4
iPhone 4 Adventures
Everything I’m going to say about the iPhone 4 is something you’ve heard before, but I guess I’m going to say it anyway. I haven’t bothered taking actual photos of the phone because 1) I suck at taking “good” photos, and 2) you can see gorgeous photos of the new phone everywhere. So, above are some sample untouched photos I took with the phone.
Getting the phone
I never wanted to wait in line. I tried pre-ordering from the online store for hours and the iPhone Apple Store app for hours and hours. When it became clear I might never get to pre-order, I decided to make a reservation at my local Apple Store, which happened to be the Fifth Avenue Apple Store. Alas, I never was able to pre-order, so off to the huge Cube I went.
I dragged my good friend Justin to the store around 4 am. There were of course two lines, and the reserved line had at least 100 people on it already. An employee said that at that time the regular line was already one and a half avenue blocks long.
The time passed quickly thanks my trusty iPad. We sat and read the reports of all the others on twitter who were also waiting on lines all over the world. Over the next couple of hours both lines got longer and longer. There were plenty of video cameras. We sat and waited until around 6 am, when Apple Store employees started sifting through our line to confirm our reservations. Unfortunately Justin did not have a reservation (he was just super nice and keeping me company), and was asked to leave around 6:30 am. As we got closer to 7 am, the crowd got more lively and all sorts of free stuff was being given out, bagels, cupcakes, t-shirts, etc.
Right before 7 am, a ton of Apple Store employees appeared from Cube and began clapping. Lots and lots of clapping. There was a countdown, and finally, they started to let people in!
I was in the second wave of reserved line-waiters to be let in. There were plenty of very peppy Apple Store employees, along with many video and photographers inside the store. A super nice Apple employee grabbed a few Bumper Cases for those of us waiting to buy with our phones so we didn’t have to (I really don’t think we could) get off the line to grab them. It looked to me like they only had black Bumper Cases.
Finally I was called over, and another very nice Apple Store guy confirmed the reservation for my phone. I chose to let the him activate my phone in-store hoping to avoid any possible issues activating my phone later in iTunes at home. Activation took about five minutes. He seemed to think turning off all cellular data would speed up activation, so if you’re having issues waiting for AT&T to push your phone through it could be worth trying.
All told, I left the Fifth Avenue Apple Store with my iPhone 4 before 7:30 am. I texted and made calls on it with no problem as soon as I left the store. I put in my mobileme account on my way home, and I had all my contacts/bookmarks/etc synced up before I got home.
While getting up at 3 am sucked, I’m happy I did it. If I had gone to the store at 7 am, who knows how long I would have had to wait on line. Also, since it was still dark out, it was warm, but certainly a livable temperature. I am very happy I didn’t have to stand there all day.
Antenna & Cell Service In General
Since the Apple Store guy offered to put the Bumper Case on my iPhone for me, I’ve had the bumper on for almost the entire (very short) time I’ve had the phone.
The whole don’t-hold-it-in-your-left-hand thing did happen with my phone in my apartment today when I tested it without the Bumper case this morning. However, it didn’t happen when I tested it without the Bumper case briefly yesterday. I have a feeling it has a lot to do with where you are and how the AT&T service is there in general. Something may also be up with how the phone is reporting bars in general, they may be overly sensitive.
I have a feeling Apple will have more to say about it. I’m guessing I’m going to end up being reimbursed for the Bumper case I bought. I also think we’re going to see an update that makes the bars less sensitive.
The real test will be seeing how it works around the city, which I’ll be doing a bunch this weekend. I’m cautiously optimistic.
Build
Obviously this is a great looking phone. Coming from a 3GS, for me, it feels fragile, even though I know its not supposed to be. I pre-ordered an Invisible Shield that arrived a couple of days before I got the iPhone, so I put that on last night before my first night on the town with the phone.
Display
The display is simply stunning. Everything you’ve heard about it is true. Text is incredibly clear and precise. Updated apps look beautiful. Old apps just look awful. Really awful. Its impossible to describe just how gorgeous it is. I think you get the point.
Photography
I have notoriously poor photo-taking abilities. You can see some sample untouched photos at the top of the post.
Etcetera
I already miss having a jailbroken phone, mostly for SBSettings and of course Winterboard. I’ll probably jailbreak as soon as its available.
I like iOS4’s folders much more than I thought I would. They are very very useful. I’m still trying to work out the best organization and still just trying to get used to opening them quickly. I’m sure my hands will get used to it very quickly.
Holy crap, fast-app-switching/multitasking is fantastic. Everything is so smooth and instant. It is such a pleasure to use.
My iPad feels like its sorely missing out. I can handle not having a retina display. But I do miss folders and fast-app-switching. Even with a jailbroken iPad that uses backgrounding and iPhone ProSwitcher, its just not the same.
So, there you have it. My brief thoughts on the new iPhone 4, that are just like everyone else’s. Wee!
This is seriously a dream come true. My long-time, absolute favorite mac application, now with iPhone syncing with the great Simplenote.
I’m super super happy. Go try it!
Reblogged from kung fu grippe
Quick Thoughts On The iPad
The name doesn’t bother me that much. It could be worse.
It’s great that the iPad can create Pages/Keynote/Numbers documents, but how can you get them off the iPad? Can the iPad connect to my wireless printer? Can I somehow connect a USB flash drive?
My first thought was that I would never have a reason to use it. But I know when I’d use it. I would use it right now, right when I’m hanging out on my bed, home from work, with no desire to touch my laptop, but knowing that my iPhone isn’t quite enough.
While I understand why it uses iPhone apps, I do wish it could run real OSX apps. It doesn’t really bother me that Apple completely controls what can go on the iPhone, but there are certain things that I wish could go on the iPad that probably never will due to the closed nature of the iPhone app store. For example, Perian. Perian lets you play tons of video formats on your mac. I doubt we will ever have this for the iPad (unless its jailbroken, of course). It’s just so… Crippling.
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Running only one application at a time (no background apps) is still a problem. If this is an issue having to do with processor/memory, thats just sad. It’s more fair if its only a concern about battery life. Still, its still a feature I hope for.
You can argue that the interface doesn’t call for more than one application window open at a time, so there is no reason to have more than one application open at a time. I get that. Still feels like a feature that is heading backwards instead of forwards for me. This goes along the lines of the point above… its hard to not see the iPad as a full computer, even though I know it definitely is not one.
The iBook concept, is of course great, even if it’s not exactly original. What I don’t like the idea, of, however, is having to possibly buy the same book two different ways on two different Apple-backed stores. What if I want a readable copy for when I’m home, and an audio copy for when I’m in the car? I’d love for Apple to somehow sell bundles of both. I mean seriously, it might actually get me to read again. Though I think I’d have to make the text huge to ever even try to read an entire book on-screen.
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My biggest issue with the iPad is the whole data price thing. $30 a month for unlimited 3G data is great. But what if I’m already paying for unlimited data for my iPhone, and I have a 3G USB stick for my MacBookPro? Multiple monthly payments for the same stream of unlimited data.
Someday AT&T is supposed let those of us in the US use our iPhones for tethering, and then I’ll just use that for both my laptop and an iPad. Otherwise, the best option is to probably get a MiFi. Though I still say none of this is ideal, and there should be some sort of unlimited data combo-deal for those of us who already have iPhones who want to pay for laptop tethering. [So I buy the 3G model of the iPad, but I only pay one extra tether-data fee that applies to tethering from my iPhone and the 3G data on my iPad.]
So… will I get one? Yes. I think for me it’ll mainly be something I use when I’m too tired to face my laptop. Will I get my mom one? Yes. Will I still need to bring my laptop home on the weekends? Yes.
So, I say “yes” to the iPad. Not “wow”, but, “yes”.
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.
