iPhone 4 In My Hand: Suffers By Comparison

I  had the opportunity to very briefly use an iPhone 4 yesterday.  The screen is very impressive and I was unable to lower the signal strength by holding it.

However, as impressive as the screen is, I could barely see it.  My eyes are no longer used to such a small display.  While the phone has a better resolution than my EVO, that missing .8 diagonal inches makes a BIG difference.  It is hard to believe that I've gotten so used to the EVO's 4.3 inch display in just 12 days.  Note:  Those who haven't experienced daily use of a larger screen will never notice the difference and that situation probably applies to most all iPhone 4 buyers.

With last year's HTC Touch HD2, this month's EVO and next month's Motorola Droid X's all having 4.3 inch screens, it seems like Apple is still behind the curve.

I also predict that silicon cases or bumpers as Apple calls them are going to be very popular.  The edges of the iPhone 4 are too sharp to hold comfortably in my hand.  I don't mean at the corners, but the long edges on the front and back faces of the phone.  Out of the box, the iPhone 4 no longer fits comfortably in my hand.  The old style, including that of the iPod Touch, nestles easily into the palm of my hand, able to be held for hours in comfort.

I could see changing the form factor if it was needed for a larger display.  All I see coming from this change is change for change's sake and a boost of the sales of 3rd party cases and accessories.

My bottom line:  Between still being hampered by AT&T, the sharp edges and relatively tiny display would put this phone at the bottom of my app phone wish list.  A shame really, as it is a good phone.

Sprint HTC EVO - 17+ Hours on Standard Battery

Here's how I avoid the biggest gripe I hear about the EVO, short battery life.

You probably know by now that the new EVO is THE super phone.  Only the Motorola Droid X (unreleased) and the iPhone 4 (poor connectivity and orange splotches on screen) are in the same league.  You've probably also heard the stories about really bad battery life on the EVO.

Well, I was getting no more than about four hours out of mine the first few days.  Now though, I get at least twelve and as long as 27 hours out of a charge!  And I did with without hacking the phone or buying anything extra.  You can too.

The biggest change is that I turned ON the WiFi radio.  Yes, I turned it on.  This goes against all "common sense" about cell phones.

I have a WiFi network at home and one at work.  The one at work is a bit dodgy due to the many networks in use in the area meaning that only our Android and Windows based equipment can stay connected.  Anything with an Apple logo on it rolls over and dies.  (Note,  my iPod Touch upgraded to IOS 4 deals with it almost as well as Android.)

By using WiFi instead of 3G/4G I get tremendous battery life.  The EVO is smart enough to switch back and forth between radios as needed so the only time I'm on Sprint's network for network use is when commuting.

I leave GPS and everything else but 4G enabled.  Today I'm leaving 4G enabled as a test.  I don't use Live wallpaper, but I have a scene that does.  I use than scene when showing off the capabilities of the EVO.  And I use System Panel to make sure that apps I don't use aren't running.  All of this helps a little, but it was the WiFi that made the big difference.

The guys at my local Sprint store didn't believe me.  They don't have their EVOs yet as Sprint made employees wait til July 1st before getting theirs, and with demand exceeding supply, they'll have to wait even longer.

Show I showed them my battery history screens on System Panel.  You can see that the phone was down to just below 25% charge when I put it on chart about 12:30AM.  I charged it until about 7AM.  At 4:41PM, over 9 hours later, it still had about a 60% charge.  The other graphs show that I was indeed using the phone during this time.

Want To Call with iPhone 4? Don't hold it! Retina Display Jaundiced.

Oopsie!  Out of the box, the new iPhones have big problems. Apple is silent on the subject.

All those folks anxious to get their hands on their new iPhone 4 seem to have to hold their phone at the top and bottom as holding it by the sides cause problems connecting.  Sources say putting the new iPhone in a ziplock bag or a $29 case helps.  That doesn't however help with the yellow lines and blotches on the "Retina Display".

It looks like the problems Steve Jobs had at the WWDC launch of the iPhone 4 made it into the production models.

iPhone 4 Antenna Problems and Screen Discoloration Mar Launch - PCWorld:

Verizon Adds EVO-Like Phone!

Competition is a great thing.  By the end of Summer you can have a killer "App Phone" from your choice of carriers.

Sprint of course currently offers the EVO with its 4.3" display, dual cameras and 4G connectivity.

AT&T offers the iPhone 4 with its smaller display, dual cameras and the AT&T ball and chain for connectivity

Verizon will be offering the Droid X, a slightly stripped down version of the EVO.

Well, it appears to be an EVO, sans the front facing camera, FM radio and 4G connectivity.  It does include a dual noise cancelling dual microphone ala iPhone 4.  I honestly don't know of the EVO has the dual mic feature or not.

The Droid X also offers an additional hardware button for the camera.  It ships with a 16GB flash card rather than the 8GB provided by Sprint with the EVO.

The rest of the specs are identical to the EVO and stock Android 2.1.

Two interesting features I see in the video are that the microUSB and HDMI ports are on the side rather than the bottom as in the EVO.  This makes more sense for docking solutions and that it uses a mechanical shutter for the camera.  Again, I don't know of the EVO uses a mechanical shutter.

Motorola has certainly done a great job in cloning the HTC EVO and Verizon customers will be happy to not be left behind.

DROID X by Motorola - Android phone - HD phone - Motorola USA

 

Network Card Priority Tip (Warning Geek Alert)

You might need this.  Geeky, but easy to do.  I'll give instructions for Windows and Mac.

Most of us have one network connection on our computer, either a WiFi connection or a cabled ethernet connection.  But sometimes we have or need a connection to an additional network at the same time.

For instance... a coworker running Windows 7 wanted to use his Clear WiMax 4G in the office.  It plugs in a USB port and gives broadband speeds wirelessly and much faster than our T1 line.  But... this meant that he couldn't get on our local network.

What we had to do was to tell Windows the order to try the network devices.  This is much like saying "If you can't find it at Walmart, try K-Mart".

Windows 7 made it rather easy.

Click:

• Start
• Control Panel
• Network and Internet
• View Network Status and Tasks
• Change Adaptor Settings

Now find the local ethernet connection.  In my case it is called "Local Area Connection", the name of the network below that, and below that the name of the device, "Intel (R) PRO/1000 CT Network Connection".

• Right click on the network device
• Click on "Properties"
• Find "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IP{v4)" in the list and click on it to highlight it
• Click the "Properties" button at the bottom right of the list
• Click the "Advanced Button" near the bottom right of the new window
• Uncheck "Automatic metric" which is the last item on the IP Settings tab.
• Change the "Interface metric" to 2
• Click OK
• Click OK
• Click Close
• Repeat for the Clear WiMax USB device, making sure that the interface metric is set to "1".
• Close the Control Panel Window

On my Mac it is even easier.

Click:

• Apple Menu
• System Preferences
• Network
• The gear at the bottom of the device list
• Set Service Order

Now drag the devices/connections to your desired order.  When done, click OK, Apply and then close the window.

Both Windows and OS X make it pretty easy to do this, of course it IS easier on the Mac.

Fanbois Rejoice: iPhone 4 has almost caught up!

I just read David Pogue's NY Times review of the iPhone 4 at State of the Art - New iPhone Arrives, Rivals Beware - NYTimes.com.  The review wasn't as I expected, as the Mr. Pogue actually point out a few minor shortcomings in the new iPhone!  The departure from cheerleading was a big surprise, though to be honest he managed to sound excited about minor improvements.

I'm a geek.  I love technical things.  I really, really like Apple's products.  However, Apple "Fanboy" is a not a term that would ever be used in conjunction with my name. (note:  This blog is written using MarsEdit on my MacBook Pro 17")

You may have noticed in my blog that I've never fallen under the spell of the iPhone.  I've never stood, zombie-like, for four to twelve hours to buy an iPhone on day of release.  Now, if the iPhone had been available from a good cellular carrier, I'd have bought an iPhone 3GS by now, especially with Walmart dumping them at $97 each for the past few months.

The 3GS, or at least the 3G, was the phone that Apple should have released three years ago.  The original iPhone was so lacking and behind the technology curve that it was perfect for AT&T.  It only supported the Edge GSM network meaning that even the cheapest competition left it in the dust for data speeds.  That matched AT&T's network though as AT&T was just rolling out their 3G network trying to catch up to Verizon, Sprint and even T-Mobile.

Talk time was claimed to be 8 hours.  Later models sliced that almost in half, the new iPhone 4 improves talk time, perhaps to where Apple had it three years ago.

Even two years ago, the release of the iPhone 3G still only had a 2 megapixel camera and no video recording capability, still far behind the competition.  Last year, Apple gave the 3GS a 50% resolution boost to 3 megapixels, added a digital compass.

This year, the iPhone 4 gets a camera boost to 5 megapixels, a new shape, faster CPU, bigger battery, an improved antenna (still not enough to overcome AT&T's deficiencies as proved by Steve Jobs' failure to get a connection at the keynote address announcing the iPhone 4), a second camera, improved microphone and an LED flash.

Hardware-wise, this is an evolutionary upgrade rather than revolutionary, that brings the latest iPhone closer to parity with Android phones released 6 months to a year ago.

The biggest improvement is in the software.  IOS 4 (the renamed Iphone Operating System because it runs on both iPhones and iPods) finally offers limited multitasking for applications that are rewritten from scratch, the ability to use folders to hold up to twelve whole icons, and the ability to switch back to a recently used application without having to first return to the home screen.

Additionally, customers can now increase the size of the font used in some applications, sorts mail messages into threads, provides a unified inbox (all your accounts are stuffed into one folder) and a spelling checker.

I.E. hardware and software combined, roughly somewhere between last year's HTC Hero Android phone from Sprint and this year's HTC Evo phone from Sprint.

But the iPhone 4 is still crippled by the AT&T cellular network.

Back to David Pogue's review.  One of the first things he points out is that no matter how many improvements are in the new iPhone, the "Cantankerous Committee" won't like it.  My point is that no matter how lacking it is, the Fanbois will love it.  As proven by the 600,000 preorders before AT&T's network had a melt-down on the first day one could preorder.

He then goes on to admit (GASP) that the iPhone actually has competition! Then goes on to describe the iPhone 4's "amazing" new features.

I love the way he ended his review:

"Now, the iPhone is no longer the undisputed king of app phones. In particular, the technically inclined may find greater flexibility and choice among its Android rivals, like the HTC Incredible and Evo. They’re more complicated, and their app store not as good, but they’re loaded with droolworthy features like turn-by-turn GPS instructions, speech recognition that saves you typing, removable batteries and a choice of cell networks.

If what you care about, however, is size and shape, beauty and battery life, polish and pleasure, then the iPhone 4 is calling your name."

In other words... if you're into looks, then the iPhone is for you.  If you're into the best features...

Oh, to make a point... my stock EVO battery is now averaging 17 hours per charge with normal use, over 24 hours with minimal use and only 12 hours with heavy use.  He says that the iPhone 4's larger battery gives you a 16% better chance of making through the day.  That is important for iPhone users as you still can't change the battery.

The Odds Are Increasing That Microsoft's Business Will Collapse - Who'da Thunk It?

Great analysis about the growing attacks on Office and Windows over at The Odds Are Increasing That Microsoft's Business Will Collapse on Businessinsider.com.

Because of their control, Apple does offer a better combination of hardware and software than anyone else in the business. Since Microsoft doesn't offer hardware (other than the Zune, keyboards and mice LOL) Apple's main competition is from the likes of Dell, HP, Gateway, Toshiba and eMachines.  Until you get to the mobile market.

There, Apple's competition is Android.  To me, this is the most important and impressive competition.

Before the iPhone, we had some smartphones running Palm OS and Windows Mobile.  They were expensive and clumsy to use, but put a lot of power in your palm.  The iPhone offered no features that I hadn't had on my Windows Mobile smartphones for several years.

Nevertheless, Apple put it in a sexy package, with a pretty much uniform and good user interface.  Yes, it lacked basic features such as "cut and paste".  However, it put a nice window dressing on commodity features.  Combine that with a rabid fan base and success is almost guaranteed.HTC has managed to provide a similar interface in their touch screen Windows phones, but the non-HTC provided Windows Mobile applications still have a crappy interface.When Apple released the first iPhone just three years ago, the only quality smart phones were the RIM Blackberry and a few Nokia (Symbian) models.  The slick interface and installed massive fan base caused the iPhone to become one of the most desired phones on the planet (despite lacking some basic features like cut and paste, a camera that shoots video and the ability to use bluetooth stereo headsets.)  Of course in 36 months, Apple fixed those deficiencies.Bottom line, the iPhone shoved Microsoft Windows Mobile based smartphones into last place. 

Android though is the big surprise.  The first Android mobile phone, the HTC Dream (G1 in the U.S.) was approved by the FCC about one and a half years ago and was released on the fourth place (out of four) U.S. Cellular network,  T-Mobile. Today, there are over 60 models of Android phones from over 20 manufacturers and every major carrier offers several models.  Multiple sources have shown that Android phones rank 3rd place in market share, behind Nokia (Symbian) and RIM (Blackberry) and will surpass RIM this year.

So Google's Android has done the same thing to Apple's iPhone that Apple did to Microsoft, but in half of the time.

While surprising, it does make some sense.

As I pointed out, over 20 companies make Android phones, having an average of 3 models each.  You can go to any carrier and get an Android phone and again, have a choice from several models.

The iPhone is available from just one US carrier, and they only offer two models.  One that is up to a year old, and one that is up to two years old.  I don't count the choices of 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, etc. as model choices since the competition allow the customer to decide by simply changing out memory cards.  The monopoly US carrier is credited with having the second worst network in the country, some of the worstcustomer service and some of the highest prices.  Nevertheless, the iPhone is a success.

So we have a "pick your carrier, pick your manufacturer and pick your model" vs a "one carrier-two models, take it or leave it" situation.  Who do you think is going to win?

On the Microsoft Office front, it IS the standard office suite for business, managing to kill off Ami Pro, Lotus 1-2-3, Wordperfect, etc.  However, It's been over ten years since Microsoft ran out of useful things to add to Office making it worth giving upgrade money to Microsoft.

• Deeply discounted, it costs $100 or more to get a current version of Microsoft Office with a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program.
• Apple users can get iWork '09 (the current version) for almost $40 and get a very good word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program.  In fact, I find them better than anything Microsoft offers.
• Anyone running Windows, Mac or Linux can run OpenOffice for free and get a good word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program as well as a database.
• Anyone running a web browser can run Google Documents and get a basic word processor and spreadsheet for free. 

Office is one of Microsoft's two cash cows, the Windows operating system being the other.  However, there are three major alternatives, two of which can run on Windows and both of those are free.  How long do you think people will continue to give Microsoft money for Office?  Oh and by the way, all the alternatives handle Microsoft Office documents just fine.The article points out that Google ChromeOS, Android OS and "the cloud" will eventually make the desktop computer redundant.  I believe this will take longer than the author believes, but yes, I can see it happening.  In the meantime, a Mac runningOS X is a great (and I believe better) alternative to Microsoft Windows.  For about the same cost as a Windows license plus hardware, you can buy commodity hardware and build (or have built) a desktop PC running Apple OS X.  Perhaps not legally, but it works.Then there's Linux.  I like Linux.  When it comes to getting the job done and stability, Linux is right up there with Apple's OS X.  When it comes to cost, nothing beats Linux.  But... Linux isn't near as polished as OS X or even Windows.  Ubuntu Linux is almost there... Where you could give the average grandmother a computer loaded with Ubuntu and she'd be able to use it easily.

Yes, Microsoft is under pressure.  Microsoft is under a lot of pressure.  The corporate world will probably keep Microsoft alive in decades to come.  But I also remember when IBM was expected to continue to dominate the corporate desktop world as well.