3G exists on the island of Oahu

I decided to turn on the 3G function yesterday while I was in Waikiki. I just could not believe that Apple would sell 3G iPhones in a graphic region that does not have 3G capabilities. Sure enough, the iPhone found 3G service within several feet outside my hotel. For some reason, in the room we stayed, not to mention hotel, there is no 3G availability until you walk outside and away from the building.

With 3G on today, I was using the GPS features but did not really notice the difference in speeds.

I also decided to turn back on Exchange on Monday. Here comes the battery drain. I just made a point to charge nightly.

3G GPS does it again

So I am still in Hawaii. Waikiki to be exact. It is almost insane to get a car to get around this approximately 1 square mile. Pretty much anything you want to do in town can be done by walking. The day before yesterday, Monday, we were looking for something to do. I thought I would not be going to the aquarium, but for under $20 for all four of us, I thought why not. The Waikiki Aquarium is very small, but in its day, it was the most advanced of the times. To get there, we had to walk down Kalakaua Ave, the main strip through Waikiki. I knew the aquarium was past the restaurant we ate at the night before, but I didn't bring the address. WHIP out the 'ol 3G and click to get our current position, type in the destination, and BLAMO! I am less than 1/4 mile from the aquarium. My interesting observation is that the directions and time to destination are based on driving. Not that it is a big deal, but would be nice if you could choose between drive and walk, since one way streets don't apply to me when I am walking to a destination.

Turning off Exchange

Since today was a weekend day, I decided to turn off exchange to conserve battery power. The 3G has the option to turn off "mail" for each account. This way, I guess you don't have to delete the account. By not having mail pushed from Exchange, the battery has lasted all day with room to spare. This includes playing some apps for about 30 minutes. This was definitely proof that Exchange is part of the battery hogging that occurs on the 3G.

3 Cheers for 3G GPS

So I am walking down Kalakaua street in Waikiki. I didn't bring my map that shows me where the Food Pantry grocery store is. All I know is that it is some direction northeast. After walking for a spell, I finally stopped to ask a groundskeeper at the Moana Surf Rider hotel, "if I turn left here, will I get to Food Pantry?" His answer in broken English was a yes. So I make the left and as I am walking down the street I realize that I should just pull out the iPhone. So I get my position via GPS. I type in Food Pantry in the search and it brings up the result on the map. BTW...this is using Edge...speed wasn't an issue. I actually overshot my mark with my guess walking. The 3G has a route for me via car, but more impressively, I have a blue pin which represents my current position. As I continue walking towards my destination, my blue pin is moving along with me!!!! SWEET!

3G so far just has too many pluses to outweigh some of the negative factors that can be improved upon. My love for Apple products lives on!

Aloha!

iPhone 3G - almost 3 weeks

This will be a POV assessment of the 3G having used it now for about 3 weeks.

First, what I like:

I like the added speed that comes with 3G. The download speeds on sites as well as applications clearly beats the old Edge network. OEM apps such as weather and stocks return results a lot faster than Edge did.

Applications are awesome. I have downloaded a handful, mostly free ones. Light saber is fun. I would like to see some really useful ones come out that are free. For example, BofA did a banking online app...Wells Fargo should too. I am thinking of a couple myself that I would like to invent...just need to figure out the monetizing aspect.

GPS is great. It pinpoints more accurately where you are. However, an existing feature that I like is the ability to type in the name of what you are looking for and it will try to find in within the vicinity you are currently at.

I like the fact that 3G defaults to Edge when the 3G network can't be found.

This next one is a double-edge sword...Exchange. The ability to get work email is great from a connectivity POV, but bad from a work life balance aspect.

What I don't like (or wish Apple would do better)

I don't care what the articles say about 3G battery life. It SUCKS...literally sucks power like a kid on a tootsie pop asking the Mr. Owl how many licks it takes to the center. I think Exchange is the biggest hoard of power, most likely due to the constant PUSH of information. The 3G network aspect is also a battery hog, although you can turn that off if you want to conserve power. Exchange will continue to work as well as other email at good rates.

Using just email, an occasional 3-5 min call, and a sneak at the latest apps, I am recharging about 1x a day. That is horrible performance given the advertised longevity, even with variable usage.

While I am currently vacationing in Hawaii, I am not getting the 3G to auto pick up the Edge network which is clearly present.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I am still think there should be a better way to toggle between email accounts. Currently, you have to scale back to the top of the hierarchy to access a different inbox.

The new syncing procedure seems to be a bit longer. Now the iPhone goes through a back up process every time you sync. So if there is a lot on your device, expect to take some time before you can disconnect. I have yet to figure out if the back up can be made optional.

Overall, the 3G is still the most productive etool for the average individual. I am not sure it is ready for hard core enterprise, which Crackberry is already geared for. However, I am no longer a Crack user and having a tool that is a mix personal and business performer, 3G serves me well.

I do hope Apple will be able to come up with some software releases that will help with battery life.

Aloha from Waikiki

Day 3 of iPhone 3G

Today was rather uneventful in the 3G life. I will say however that I am not impressed with the way iPhone handles multiple email accounts. I configured both Gmail and exchange. Apparently and to my limited knowledge until someone tells me otherwise, if you configure exchange, you will not be able to get Gmail notifications. I tried several variations in settings. However, deleting the exchange account and then sending a test email to my Gmail account got me back to normal. I was receiving Gmail notifications again. So I don't need exchange that bad. If work really wants to support it, they can buy me another iPhone, which will probably be never.

i still don't like the fact that configuring multiple email accounts requires navigating back to account page to change email accounts.

Since I had a BBQ party today, I didn't get to play too much with the iPhone. I did plug it in to my car adapter. I found that the jack is tighter this time around. At first I thought I was going to need a new adapter. This feels true as well for the AC jack. The connectors seem much tighter...like I might break it if I try too hard.

I also caught a guts picture off a site called ilounge.com. Here is what the insides of the iPhone look like...



According to iLounge, the battery is not soldered on as in the first iPhone.

Day 2 of 3G iPhone

I have been fortunate enough to play with the new 3G for a few hours. It took AT&T and Apple many hours before I could activate my phone. Even though I walked out with one at close to 11am. I was not activated and ready to go until 5pm. I heard the stories on the news and I wasn't that upset. First of all, I had the warnings at the store and on the news. So why bother with swimming against the current. Once I was cleared to unbrick via iTunes...set up was EASY. There were some issues with the SMS as I was not offered the options. So I had to go to the store today to remedy that as well as get my mom set up on virtual voicemail as I handed down the 1st gen to her.

Overall, the 3G is faster. I love the GPS and getting apps is kinda cool. I got the light saber app this afternoon. It makes the sounds of a Star Wars light saber in action. Others I got for free were AIM, Mandarin, Remote, Facebook, and Light. I was disappointed with Remote. Supposedly you can control your iTunes on the Mac with the 3G. Didn't work...couldn't get the thing to connect. Light is kinda funny. All is does is turn your screen to the brightest and whitest so you can use it as a flashlight.

I also configured the 3G for work (Exchange). While I think it is convenient to get your work email on it, I have 2 big DOWNERS for this. First, it forces you to put a passcode on the iPhone. Thus you will have to enter that passcode anytime you wake the phone up. Second, there are additional steps to getting at email based on the account you want to access. Think of it as a cascading tree. The highest level is account. Therefore, if you configure exchange and gmail, you have 2. You can only access 1 at a time and must climb back up the tree if you want to change to a different account. STUPID. Man do I sound like a Apple loyalist now? The ones I always make fun of? Maybe, but this is basic functionality that should be in any software capability...not just Apple's.

Something gives me the impression that the screen is better and the resolution on the pictures are better. The camera was upgraded no?

I like the fact that you don't have to be in 3G mode. If you turn it off you default to Edge. Perfectly fine if you are using the phone portion. I also feel that in 3G my phone reception is weaker at my house. This may have something to do with the towers not all being upgraded to 3G. In Edge mode you will conserve more battery power. Just remember that you have to go back into settings and turn it on if you want to use data. I think someone should build an app for that.

The Facebook app is cool. No more connecting to the internet first to update your status...or wasting text messages to update your status!

Okay that's it for now...I am going to go back and do some more light saber!