After many weeks of consideration, I have made the plunge from being an avid iPhone user, to selling it, and getting a brand spankin’ new Nokia N95 8GB. It should be arriving tomorrow or the day after, where I will have an extensive review and comparison for anyone looking to follow in the Symbian footsteps. Stay tuned.

-Jake

As soon as the WWDC ended, eBay was flooded, and everyone I knew started planning on how to sell the “old” iPhone to earn money for the “newly priced” Jesus phone. Unfortunately, the 1st iPhone design is already viewed as futile. The fact is, anyone who has an unlocked/jailbroken iPhone should cherish their iPhone like a treasure.

The recent announcement for the July release was very expected, but also very exciting. Although, there is a ton of things to consider when it comes to the new 3G IPhone, Especially for people without AT&T service (which is most of us):

The Contract

- You CANNOT buy the iPhone without signing your life away for 2 years with AT&T. This has changed drastically since the first release. So to acquire that shiny new black or white iPhone get ready to have the crappiest service known to man.

- Signing the contract does not necessarily mean you will get it at the $199 price tag. You will have to qualify for the special price, so if you have crappy credit, get ready to spend a stupid amount of money for the upgrade.

- No go-Phone purchase… AT&T and Apple have surely done their homework on how to keep people from staying away from the AT&T chains.

The Phone

- Lets face it, the newest design has 0% change in the phones interface and workability. No upgraded camera, buttons….nothing except for the headphone jack.

- It might not even be worth the $200 price tag. Using the plastic backing makes it look fresh, new and Apple-like, but its merely a way to make phones on the CHEAP. It probably cost less than $100 to make each new iPhone.

Overall it is going to be an amazing device, with 3G and new color, but to me this does not kick out the prior iPhone model, but will actually make the PRICELESS! Think about it. There will not be unlocked 3G iPhones in the wild for quite a while (with new purchase procedures), and even with that, do you think these cats that acquire the phone and unlock it are going to sell it for $199?  The design is now out of production. This alone makes your matte aluminum backed iPhone that much better. Oh and you can use your “old” iPhone with ANY GSM service these days. The software, storage, and usability will be the same as the 3G iPhone minus the 3G of course. I Guarantee the iPhone 3G will be the new Moto Razr. Every dude-bro, half-wit and their moms will have the glossy plastic AT&T-only device…. Hang on to your old iPhone non AT&T people, you wont regret it. By the way, The price of the 1st gen iPhone will are and will continue to sky rocket in value, as oppose to drop dead.

-Jake

There were a bunch of cool things announced in San Francisco today for the new iPhone:

-awesome SDK stuff including PUSH service for things like IM, gaming, the APP Store

-GPS

-Enterprise Support

-MobileME

Surely I do not need to get into any information about the acutal 3G iPhone that was released today. There are a ton of Blog posts about that. So we need to analyze a couple of things that took away from the excitement of the WWDC 2008. It pretty much boils down to one thing. iPhone software 2.0.

Lets take a look at what the new “features of this will be”

- Contact Search - this should have been implemented from day one

- iWork and Microsoft Office Doc support- This is a plus

- Bulk Delete mail, and save attachments- finally, overall good

- Scientific Calculator- Who cares

- Parental controls - If you are a parent in need of Parental controls, your kid probably does not deserve an iPhone.

-NEW LANGUAGES!!- OH MY GOSH, WHO GIVES A CRAP!

Free for iPhone users/ $9.99 for Touch users

I think the only we were really looking for was AppStore and GPS, but what about the others!? Here is what we expected and didn’t see with Firmware 2.0 and 3G iPhone:

-iChat (will probably show up later)

-VIDEO SUPPORT

-improved camera/front mounted camera/flash

-landscape text

-improved storage

-MMS

-COPY/PASTE

The list goes on and on. If I saw at least MMS, I would be a bit happier but at the moment I am a bit steamed. The new iPhone is gorgeous, which i hope to get in white, but new features will not have me going the extra mile to get it.

-Jake

Click for live coverage with Gizmodo 06/09/08

10am PST / 1pm EST

A good day for all.

-Jake

(New 3G iPhone Dimensions)

The first question I get asked when i comes to the new iPhone is: “are you going to get it right away or wait it out to see if its worth it?”  We all know the newly hyped iPhone will not come cheap, and jumping into the new wave of Apple’s iPhone is something in which I have to personally think about, long and hard (thats what she said). Not because I don’t think its going to be amazing, but because I’m just not rich and cant be spending money on technology the way I would like to.

(normal iPhone dimensions)

New photos were discovered today by way of MacRumors.com of a prototype of a rubberized skin, Made by XSKN, for the new 3G iPhone. Now the only reason i can get remotely excited for this is because before the iPhone came out, over a year ago, the same thing happened. I believe Macally or iSkin released photos of their prototype, with dimensions, and it was 99% accurate. This new “leak” gives the iPhone a Blackberry-like ‘girth’ to it with a rounded back. I am quite positive the screen will be a bit bigger, and not like the original “1st Gen” shown in the photo. One of the only things that intrigues me very much is that the camera on the rear seems to be much bigger (hinting at a higher quality shot), thus leading to the much needed Video capability. Also, looking at the front, it seems as though there is space left on the front for non other than a Front-mounted VGA camera, possibly incorporating, video in a newly released iChat application? I’m just throwing it out there.

Via MacRumors

-Jake

UPDATE: The site currently holding the 3G iPhone case is down. Maybe they f-ed up

This article is completely non-Apple related but i feel like I have to write it for certain people who want a new phone but do not really want to head into the iPhone direction. Before the my beloved iPhone entered my life, I was an avid Blackberry user. I do have to say, without any regret, is that it was probably one of the most reliable mobile devices i had ever used. Many people think “Business” when it comes to the Blackberry name, but it is mainly because of the reliability.

I strongly believe in your mobile device being able to keep you connected in every aspect possible from the phone, text and MMS client to 3rd party apps (QIK, social network clients, etc) and of course reliable e-mail. This Phone definitely has

Introducing the new Blackberry Bold. If i did not have an iPhone this would be my next purchase. This AT&T first exclusive (followed by a T-Mobile release, then Verizon I’m sure) release phone will hit stores any day now. With the 3G revolution stirring about this 3G Blackberry will fit right in. This revamped phone has all of the normal (but advanced) BB features, plus a crap-ton more including: Read the rest of this entry »

The day is nearing when the new iPhone will be announced! Most likely June 9th during the Apples WWDC. Although what do we have to look forward to? There had been a lot of talk and speculation ever since the SDK was released so, Lets explore that shall we?

First off, we can obviously check off 3G support because that has already been confirmed. Surprisingly enough not only is the public ready for it, but so is T-Mobile!! Kind of strange how they just so happen to roll out 3G when we are among word of the hi-speed iPhone. Coincidence? Probably, but after speaking with a T-Mobile rep (fixing up some internet issues) it seems the iPhone is an everyday set-up for them. T-Mobile knows a lot of their service is supporting the AT&T exclusive device so why not take it up a notch with 3G. To also clear up any speculation about T-Mobile’s 3G, it was stated by blogs that it will be voice support only, when in fact T-Mobile’s press release leaves open the possibility of voice and data service.

Everything from here on out people can only guess and use their sources to their capacity. Kevin Rose had made a prediction a while back saying there will be 3G, ichat, video support, and front mounted video for video chat. With the recent unveiling of Video Recorder, 3rd part app that gives your iphone video capability, it makes the possibility seem more likely. The reason i think it may NOT happen is because I feel there i not going to be a major change in hardware. It’s just like a Blackberry. They do not add all of those extras, and in doing so sales hardly suffer. Plus with confirmation of the new $199 price tag, i doubt you will get a whole bunch more than the 1st generation iPhone.

This leads to the re-design of the iPhone. There was a whole bunch of rumors that the Phone would turn out to be an all BLACK design, which was supported with photos. This turned out to e some 3rd party Japanese housing you can buy online. Then Gizmodo gives us a story, from iLounge, which details specs for the “new” iPhone from peripheral manufacturers. These new specs show a new sensor arrangement, which could bring us back to the possibility of a front mounted camera, and a whole new color scheme (White, Red, or Black). This is probably the most influential source of material i have received thus far.

The fact of the matter is, there is not any one person that knows more that 3G for sure. For all we know we may be seeing a completely revamped, better working iPhone that will make the first gen obsolete, or the “new and improved” iPhone will pretty much be the same, saving all of us early adopters the time of putting them on eBay to upgrade.

Photos via Gizmodo and Engadget.

-Jake

7/11/08 UPDATE: see http://applechannel.net/2008/07/08/n95-8gb/

For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to decide on what my phone of choice will be. Right now i own the one and only iPhone 8GB version, which I LOVE. After seeing native apps like GPS, and services like QIK, to name a couple, I cant help but feel somewhat inferior to N95 owners. After much consideration, time, and inquiries, there is only one way I can go with the decision….

Read the rest of this entry »

I believe many many people can agree, that the Apple iPhone is a developmental achievement within itself. It was a first in so many aspects, and from day one there are people who are 100% devoted to the magnificent device, including myself. Lately, it seems like it’s just not enough though. First off, I already get mad taking care of the $500 (early adopter) piece of awesomeness because no matter hoe careful you are, you cannot win, and it will get scratched and dented. Second, is the software.

Now I have had every kind of smartphone known to man. Lately I feel Nokia may be coming around the corner, with their “iPhone Killer” using their s60 Touch Interface. It is already bad enough that i am thinking of getting a Nokia N95, because really..what CAN’T you do with it, but now Nokia will bring the delight of all touch interface with their ever so popular OS. With this, it is confirmed that the new Nokia, along with existing Nokias (N95) support, flash embedded video, any third part chat app, wi-fi, divx support… etc. just those reasons alone make me want to throw my iPhone back at Steve Jobs, while telling him to get out of the 1-OS mentality and embrace open source and 3rd party support!

Well all i know is there have been a lot of advertised “iPhone Killers” all have come and gone, and none have succeeded. Why? because it is amazing. But like most things, the hype cannot last forever. One of two things will happen within this year: Either Apple is going to completely wow us and give any tech junkie what they want with iPhone 2.0, leaving the iPhone at #1. Or Nokia is going to slap Apple across its face, tell them to shut up, and make sure their next-gen smartphones leave em in the dust…which is quite possible.

s60 Touch Interface in action below

-Jake

Keeping up with Zibri’s Blog , I noticed today that in light of the new upgrade in the: Unlocking, Activating, deBugging, downgrading powerhouse that is ZiPhone, Z also throws in that it is”THE favorite tool in Apple Stores”.  Could this be true? Do beloved Mac Geniuses use the simple one-click fix for iPhones? Of course they do. You’d be a fool not to utilize it.  The worry of a jailed, AT&T only iPhone and left our minds and now the only decision we need to make is, “Which software do I use”. As a Mac user i will forever say: ” ZiPhone all the way”

Download the new 3.0 version here
The new features and fixes include:
- No more need of fix nvram
- Solution for GREYED wifi
- No need for YouTube Fixes
- Embedded apps installer
- Customized plugins

via ziphone.org

Good Job
-Jake

After the article I did a couple of days ago, about the problems i encountered with Boot Camp on my Macbook Pro, I pretty much HAD it. i knew the feeling would not last however. I had to figure out a fix, so others can use the information as reference to get straight to the source of success. So click the jump and you will see what and what not to do when having the same problem with Boot Camp installation…

-Jake Read the rest of this entry »