Tag Archives: Apple iOS

Sprint called me today

Posted on June 9, 2008 | 3 comments

Sprint gave me a call to make sure I was happy. I told him I was expecting his call, he seemed surprised. I said my contract is up and they new iPhone looks pretty yummy, gotta be afraid of losing me as a customer. All he offered me was $150 off a new phone (you get that every 2 years no matter what, AFAIK).

And he said I could use that for a new Treo 800 (I have the 700p) when it comes out; he insisted it’s a Palm OS device (not Windows Mobile) and I rephrased the question several times. Now that I’ve had time to Google it, I think he’s wrong and it’s a Windoze Mobile device.

Tried to buy a wireless modem card from him, best he could offer me was $60 a month. I currently have internet on my phone for $15 and $25 more (total $40) lets me tether (connect) my laptop to it and use the internet. So if I drop the $25 and pay the $60, I’ve still got the $15 on the phone, now $45 more a month. You’d think he could offer me a better incentive than that. I do already have unlimited tethering, give me a little more incentive to sign up Sprint…

Now that I’ve got the new iPhone specs and at only $199 to switch to AT&T I’ve got all sorts of other ideas in my head…

3 Comments

Tagged , , , , ,

I was Wondering About Apple’s Weekly Releases…

Posted on March 5, 2008 | 1 comment

Apple has released or upgraded/refreshed something new every Tuesday since MacWorld. This week there was nothing. The stranger thing is that I didn’t hear much (anything?) about it. I did recall him saying something at the keynote like ’50 more weeks to go’ and it was just odd at the way it sounded, so when they kept rolling things out I thought that was pretty great and maybe it was a weekly thing.

But I see that Leo Laporte just mentioned an Apple Event tomorrow, so maybe there will be something announced there…

After Google-ing around, I’m guessing it’s just the SDK kit for the iPhone / iTouch. Although if it’s not an actual product, it’s still not following the pattern.

LATER REVEALED: I haven’t watched the Steve Jobs presentation yet. But it looks like it’s the SDK that was expected, it’s $99, I’m not sure if that was expected and it’s free (see comments). Also they have a way to be in the “Enterprise beta” program, but I don’t know if I’d want my enterprise testing new software if it’s not finalized yet. But the “remote wipe” sounds like a great option if you’ve got secure data. The “Exchange Sync” looks nice that’ll convince a few BlackBerry users to jump; is it coincidence that Google released an Exchange / Outlook to Google Calendar Sync yesterday?

1 Comment

Tagged , , , , ,

The $100 laptop is almost done and it’s WAY cool! (but it’s up to $188)

Posted on September 19, 2007 | 1 comment

188LaptopThis is probably the best review of the XO laptop (often called the “$100 Laptop”) I’ve ever seen. This is a very cool machine and should start manufacturing this fall. Unfortunately, it wasn’t designed for US sales, but once the demand gets up there I can see it (or something similar) being offered for sale. We have similar type items in the US but not as advanced and for more than double the price.

With a (tablet-like) twist screen it’s pretty need at how it folds over. And the screen has two modes: bright color and high contrast B & W for outside viewing. It had an SD slot and three USB ports, ethernet, wireless (with the mesh network), web-cam for collaboration, works as a gaming device or sideways as an eBook reader. They had to remove the built in charging crank which is a problem if you’re in a really remote area. I’m sure separate chargers raise the price)?).

The software running on the XO is just as compelling as its hardware. The Red Hat Fedora Linux-based Sugar operating system is fairly basic, and we got comfortable using it within a few minutes. The home screen displays the XO logo within a circle, and the surrounding circle fills up with running programs. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll find the Start Menu and system application icons, including Paint, Write, Chat, and RSS.

– Laptop Magazine

I can see something like this really changing computing for a 1 to 1 ratio. This is all really most people want, e-mail, web, portability (3.5 pounds) and a 10 to 1 charging ratio. The high contrast for reading an e-book will (IMHO) give them something they don’t think they want (lots of text on the go). Add some bluetooth to get on-line on my phone and I’m in. And it runs Red Hat Linux for an OS. I want one of these puppies more than an iPhone.

1 Comment

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

New iPods!!!!

Posted on September 6, 2007 | Leave a comment

So Apple redid the iPod line-up yesterday:

  • iPod touch – Basically an iPhone without the phone. It’s got the WiFi browser and you’ll now be able to buy directly from the iTunes store from the phone.
  • iPod Nano – Totally new shape to accommodate a new larger screen so you can watch movies and video! Available in 4 or 8 GB sizes.
  • Classic iPod – The same but up to 160 GB of music a video (also in 80 GB).
  • iPhone – Price dropped $200 and only the 8 GB model is available now. And you can buy ringtones and songs via WiFi. I’d expect at 16 GB model soon…

    You can use the WiFi free at Starbucks, but I’m not sure if that’s for surfing or just buying music. You can also see a “now Playing” list at Starbucks and easily purchase any of the last ten songs. If it’d update my podcasts via WiFi or if the had a 160 GB iTouch I’d really be tempted…

    Please note – Some of the features and items aren’t ready yet, but I think all are supposed to be by the end of the month.

    • Leave a comment

    Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

    300 Page iPhone Bill

    Posted on August 15, 2007 | 2 comments

    So Justine from TastyBlogSnack.com got her detailed phone bill from AT&T for her new iPhone. They have detailed billing and she had about 30,000 text messages last month. It cost them $7.12 to mail her the bill in a box.

    Insane that her bill is that long, but it’s also insane that iJustine does a 1,000 messages a day! Of course she has the unlimited plan!

    I’ve never imbedded from “revver” before, in case it doesn’t work here’s the YouTube link and here’s her original post about it. I heard her talking about it on MacBreak Weekly #53 with Leo LaPorte today (but I had no idea she was SO cute)…

    2 Comments

    Tagged , , , , , , ,

    Will it Blend? – iPhone

    Posted on July 15, 2007 | 2 comments

    The title really says it all. But you have to see it to believe it!

    And when you’re done watching it, you can bid on it and other extras (it’s up to $1,100 for some weird reason).

    2 Comments

    Tagged , , , , , ,

    I love my iPhone

    Posted on February 4, 2007 | Leave a comment

    It’s the Linksys CIT200 iPhone and works with Skype and you’d might not even realize it was a real phone. It looks more like a generic Nokia cell phone than a home phone and it works great. Actually, the one thing that makes it “not normal” (which doesn’t bother me as much as others on-line) is if you are manually dialing you need to dial the “+1” before all calls, to me it’s slightly silly, you should be able to configure it to have a default country (and area) code.

    So I really like my iPhone.You can see all the people you have on your Skype list on the display of the phone so you just scroll down and pick who you want to call. I’ve wandered all over the condo and it’s clear everywhere (I’m on the 3rd/4th floor and it’s clear on the first level too!). It’s got a headset jack on it, a great speaker phone and supports call waiting. From the USB base the plugs into the computer it even has a button to press so you can page the phone so you can’t misplace it. You do need to route the audio on the computer so it properly goes to the phone (Skype has audio settings but it seems like the computer overrides them). Continue reading →

    Leave a comment

    Posted in reviews

    Tagged , , , ,

    So I bought an iPhone!

    Posted on February 1, 2007 | 1 comment

    No not that iPhone. The iPhone that’s been out for a while, the one that Linksys/Cisco owns the trademark to (but debating that is not the purpose of this thread). It’s a regular old looking phone, kinda cellphone-ish, it’s cordless and you can carry it around the house and it connects wirelessly to your Windows PC and can make and receive Skype calls. Your Skype friend’s list shows up in the display and you can dial from there. I thought it was pretty cool and it was on the odd clearance rack at Target (the UPC on the box didn’t scan and the had an extra price tag on it, like they received it by accident but needed to tag it to get rid of it) it was a great deal! It’s even got a spot for me to plug in a headset!

    I like Skype, it’s a great idea and even though I only intermittently use it, it always seems to work for me. You can call other computers for free from your computer to and from anywhere in the world (this includes conference calls and video calls). You can call land lines in the US or Canada for just pennies a minute with no monthly fees (or unlimited for $30 a year) from anywhere in the world. Calling other countries cost a bit more depending on the location. Getting a number where people can call you at your computer (no matter what computer you are at, anywhere in the world) is about $60 a year. So going on vacation, it doesn’t matter where you are just load up Skype and connect to the net and people can call you! Get several skype numbers, one that’s close to Grandma and one that’s close to the kids in college and you’re just a local call away for each of them.

    Then phone’s charging and so I haven’t even used it yet. But I can’t wait to try! Continue reading →

    1 Comment

    Tagged , , , , , , ,