Some Thoughts on iPhone

It's been 3 months since I owned the device, I have several thoughts on iPhone and its accessories.

As a phone, I like the vicinity sensor which prevents accidental touch during a call, a problem that I had with Treo 650. I also love th tight integration of address book on Mac.

As a calendar, it syncs with iCal which is ideal for me. I like the list view in which I can glance through upcoming events quickly. However, I cannot snooze the calendar event as in iCal, instead I need to create a second alarm in iCal to simulate the snooze function. I hope this issue can be addressed in future update.

The Safari web browser is awesome in spite of lacking flash support. The tap-zoom function is great for reading text. Again it syncs with Safari on Mac so bookmarks are always up-to-date.

I do not use iPod function that much. When I do, I spend time on Podcast. The interface is just great improvement from iPod Classic.

Now let's talk about some apps. The first complaint that I have here is the lack of zoom and flash for the camera. It's a shame that they skip these important feature and at the same time slash the price for $200 2 months after debut. The other missing link I think Apple is working on is to get Notes synced with a Mac. The timer/alarm app is the best I've seen so far. I love the snooze function for the alarm and the flexibility to customize it. The rest apps are handy and entertaining. I haven't tried iTune Store app as I am not that into music.

For the 3rd party accessories, I have mixed experiences. I bought the rubber skin by inCase when they just came out, and the idea of stuck your beautiful iPhone into a rubber clothing is just awful, and what's worse, it hurts! My iPhone has its chrome scratched by small debris hide in between rubber and chrome molding. Luckily the strong glass touch screen is intact. The other accessory that I bought and have great experience with is the iPhone vehicle mount solution by ProClip. They custom-make mounts for nearly every vehicle model and every electronic device that you want to hook up in your car. I now have three mounts for my iPhone, GPS, and iPod. Their products are just ingenious, and I think you can always google to find their discount coupon code.

So to sum up my 3-month iPhone experience, I give this product (excluding AT&T contract term) 75/100. Obviously it has something that other smartphones don't have, but at the same time lacks some basic features like camera zoom and flash. If you have heavy network usage, I would suggest waiting until it comes with 3G. The EDGE network just isn't fast enough and you don't always find free WiFi when you need one. Nevertheless, if you are moderate internet user like me, the $399 MSRP looks quite appealing and you won't regret take one home today.

Nokia E61i "Very Brief" Review

I received E61i on 6/27, two days before the iDay.

The package is neat, comes with USB cable, charger, mono earphone, and CD. I use the USB to connect to my MacBook. iSync did not recognize E61i, so I went to Nokia's site and download their iSync plug-in. The screen is very sharp, even at only 320x240 I can see a lot of info in one page. Syncing was no problem and successfuly get my Address Book and iCal onto the phone, even with contact photos and to-do items. Nicely done!

One thing I noticed immediately was that the default alarm clock can not repeat itself. I have to set it again and again everyday if I want to use it as a morning call. I ended up spending $20 for Handy Clock, which includes nice clock, alarm, stopwatch, and timer features.

Calendar is another disaster as I can only snooze the upcoming event for 5 minutes, but cannot customize the snooze interval for individual event. This is really a bummer for me as I highly rely on the customized snooze feature in OSX and previously on my Treo 650. I searched hard for 3rd-party software but could not find any with this important feature.

I really like the matted feel and the response of the keyboard. It's far better than the polished plastic on Treo 650. The unit is a little bit too wide for my hand. The settings are hard to navigate probably because I am new to Symbian OS. The web is good as you can preset the networks you want to connect. And the browser gives you an overview icon of the web page as you scroll through.

To install 3rd party software, you either need to download it in E61i browser, or through USB from a Windows PC. I have no problem using my MacBook as my primary calendar and contacts manager (sync with E61i) and set E61i to copy all its new changes to Windows contacts every time it syncs E61i to Windows Vista. Doing so make my PC contacts synced with my Mac without any disturbance. I did not find any way to sync the calendar on Windows, though.

Overall I like the E61i. It's a good leap compared to Treo 650. There are quite a few software that you can play with, and the screen is a great compliment. However the ultimate deal breaker for now is its lack of customized snooze feature for calendar. I really hoped I can live with that but no I can't. I am a die-hard Apple fan.

On the morning of iDay+1, ie. Saturday, June 30, I walked into an Apple Store, pushed through amazed crowd, and got myself an 8GB iPhone. As for the E61i? I just sold it on ebay. Everyone has his own cup of tea, and Nokia almost got me this time with just a little bit lack of feature.

I really hope Nokia continue to improve so that I may consider getting their product after my 2-year agreement with AT&T expires.

iPhone or E61i?

When I saw Steve Jobs introducing iPhone back in January, I knew there will be an upcoming revolution in mobile phone industry. I was also pissed because it's tied to AT&T but I am a Zeta-Jones fan. I just cannot wait to have my T-Mobile contract end next summer. $200 per line for early cancellation?! Screw it!

I have heard almost everything about iPhone. The intro on Apple.com, David Pogue's review, etc. Regarding to hardware and software, I was disappointed to see no flash support, no java, no GPS, no swappable sim card, no comsumer replaceable battery. I really like the 480x320 screen and all the novelty behind this: one handheld fits all. This is what I need! I have carried PDA and cell phone together like a crazy tech freak, until Treo 650 saved my day. And now I only need to carry PDA phone and iPod until iPhone appears.

I am not a ear bud music listener. I hate headphones, they give me headache. I have my iPod mini installed on car all the time. So I don't really need to have a mobile phone that plays music. However, calendar and contact sync are very important to me, and I really need to have a event notification that allow me to snooze to whenever I want.

Treo 650 is a very good PDA phone. I like it a lot. Since I switched out of Sprint after my dropped-a-million-times Treo lost its antenna, I looked for a phone that can sync with OSX isync, not Windows Mobile, and small in size (yes Treo is huge). I ended up with Motorola PEBL, and it really sucks. Why? Because the stupid event reminder does not let me SNOOZE!!! Even worse, I have to set the alarm clock to "on" EVERYDAY!!! What were they thinking, Moto??!! Decided not to let the moto screw my schedule, I went on and found another PDA phone: Nokia E61i.

There are good reviews regarding E61i. They sell it for $400 unlocked and has video recording, flash and java support, 3G (though not working in USA), and some 3rd party software, which are lacked in the version 1.0 iPhone. And it can do isync! The 320x240 screen sounds really screwed but we'll see. I really hope to have it bridge the gap until next summer when I can kick goodbye to Catherine and embrace a refined version of iPhone.


I will receive my Nokia E61i today and post some comment later on.

Maybe the title should be "E61i, ......for one year, and iPhone"

Oh and my prediction for iPhone is:
It will sell very well. And watch how the AAPL stock will fly, how many percent more Apple will grab the computer market and internet browser market because of this revolutionary device. iPhone is really a dream come true that is backed by elaborate hard work. The mobile phone industry was just sleeping for too long.

Here comes the revolution!

How I became an Apple fan - Part 1

I am a Mac user since late 2003 when I purchased a 12" PowerBook G4 1GHz at Apple.com for my conference need. The reason I considered Apple was that a realtor showed me the expose when he tried to find one of the listings. It was really the "wow" factor that hooked me into Mac.

I was quite satisfied with the elegant hardware design of 12" PB and the brilliant interface of OSX 10.3. I started to browse through MacWorld, VersionTracker, etc. to find every useful free utility software. And also bought Office 2004I subscribed to MacWorld and MacAddict (after a while I found there is no need to subscribe as MacWorld put ALL their stuff online). I put 768MB RAM in it, and even swapped the hard drive to a 7200rpm 80GB one, and boy, that was really a lap burner!

I soon felt that 1024x768 is just not enough, even with virtual desktop. I was lucky enough to find a local buddy selling his 17" PowerBook G4 1.33GHz 1440x900 res. I bought it within a snap and maxed out 1.5GB RAM.

17" is really an eye candy. I loved the screen and the backlit keyboard. The
only downside was the weight. Though 6.9lb is a lightweight compared to DELLs and HPs, it's still too much for me to carry on a daily basis.

To be able to run Windows software for my job need, I bought Virtual PC for Mac. And you know what, it could not be any slower! Running Intel emulation on a PowerPC G4 is a torture to your patience. Needless to mention any possibility of 3D capability.

I was so desperate to run Windows on a Mac, so I found an used PowerMac G5 Dual 2GHz with 2GB RAM on ebay. G5 is way faster than pathetic G4. However, it's hot and noisy. I hooked it up with a DELL 2005FPW 20" widescreen monitor, and had it doing the encoding stuff and all other CPU intense jobs. Oh did I mention it's still slow in Windows?

I think it was around mid 2005 when Apple said they were going to increase the pixels for PowerBook. I sold my 17" PB within a week. Later on I bought an PC notebook (Turion 2.2GHz w/ XP x64) for my conference in late 2005. Oh god, please forgive me, I bought a PC laptop. Almost all my project collaborators have a Mac laptop. I can still remember the sniff look on one of my collaborators face.
I felt like I betrayed them. I told them I still miss my PB (and I meant it).

Ok here comes another bomb to force me sell my PowerMac. Yes! Intel transition!! I was so excited to know that I can probably run Windows natively. Yet I was afraid the G5 will depreciate soon. As a loyal MacRumors reader, I timed to sell my G5 a month before MacPro was announced.

I backed up all my iPhotos and iTunes, etc. Now I am Mac-free (oh did I mention that I gave the 12" PB to my wife but sold it later because she liked the 10.6" Sony VAIO T series better). I know it's the dark age, and I am still waiting for the Intel Sun to rise from the horizon and light up the upcoming Apple laptops......