Mobile Experience Interrupted: No Data up in the Mountains

I took a day trip with a pal up Hunter Mountain for snowboarding today. Half way up the mountain, we thought we'd listen to some music fit for snowboarding to get us pumped up. We decided to stream it and play it back through my car stereo via iPhone's Pandora application over the data network. Just as I was commenting to my friend that mobile technology is getting so cool suddenly the music stopped. I checked my phone and all seems well, other then the fact that 3G data was switched over to EDGE network. I didn't think much of it until I reached to the top of the mountain and tried to send a photo and was prompted that it can't be sent. That is when I realized that just because it says EDGE network, it doesn't actually mean that I have Data connectivity.

The whole mobile experience was going so smoothly but was interrupted when data disappeared. At least I was able to make phone calls at the top of the mountain...

iTunes Smart Playlist "Recently Added" Not So Smart

I noticed since a couple of days ago, the smart playlist "Recently Added" started to behave irratically my iPhone 3G. I am running iPhone 3.1 and iTunes 9.0.2 so I can't be sure to which update did this problem start. Basically, my recently added playlist should have my newly added songs displayed from the latest to the earlist; while it does so on my laptop, iPhone would be all shuffled up thus nearly defeating the this smart playlist.

A quick research on Google showed several postings where people have identified the bug as the Live Update checkbox in the said smart playlist. Simply by unchecking this box, problem will solve; well, sort of. Once you uncheck this Live Updating box, you've pretty much rendered this "smart" playlist to "stupid" since by definition this live updating feature will keep the playlist updated. While some do say that the list continues to be updated, I am just hoping Apple software engineers can quickly get around to fixing it so things are back to usual.

Lately, I noticed my iPhone no longer even recognize that Recently Added smart playlist (and I am not alone)... very irritating and bad mobile experience!

AT&T iPhone 3G Dropped Calls...

Generally speaking, I don't use my iPhone for too many voice calls, hence I have a bunch of rollover minutes on my account. That said, I was rushing out of the office last night at around 5:15PM but had to jump on a conference call, I was dropped 3 times from the conference call. Not sure what is going on but I find that experience extremely irritating. Stumble acrossed this article about iPhone Switchers in which the executive editor of GigaOm was fed up with the dropped calls hence his switch from an iPhone to Tmobile's BlackBerry.

I don't know what to make of this just yet, but the whole Google Voice rejection rumor is starting to piss me off too...

Personal Gripe on iPhone's Usability

Okay, the iPhone camp has been taking plenty of complaints on the lack of "copy & paste" function from the get go; for a day to day user, there are a few more annoying missing features which enhance iPhone usability, I sincerly hope to see these hiccups resolved in future updates:

* Text/SMS character counter - a simple backwards counter can help SMS usage
* Share a "Contact" via Email or Text, this is helpful when you tell someone, "I'll text you his or her number", currently there is no easy way of doing so, other than memorizing the number
* Share Google Map set pin location via Text/SMS, this is great amongst iPhone users (currently only sharing via Email is permitted)
* Make a software based "Home" button (this reduces the wear and tear on the only home button)
* Ability to save docs & PDFs
* Ability to save images w/o suppressing it to lower resolutions (much needed when downloading detailed images, like maps)
* Ability to adjust LCD brightness while watching a video in iPod (very irritating to go to settings to access brightness control in middle of a movie)
* Send Notes via Text SMS (currently only email allowed), it should warn you about character length and suggest email if exceeds 160 character count

Dell D620 + Sprint EvDO USB Modem = 15min

A while ago, I reviewed the blazingly fast Sprint EV-DO USB modem on this blog. Since then, I've always used it when I have my laptop connected to external power source. Today, I was trying to put away a little bit of work at the Four Carrots cafe inside the SOHO Bloomingdales (which is very cozy but lacks any visble electrical outlet). I turned off my Wifi and set my screen to less than half the brightness. After I plugged in the USB modem to start answering some emails, within 15 minutes, the computer screen just shut iself down and was completely drained of battery power.

I know my work-issued Dimension D620 is not the best in battery life but even with WiFi turned off and lowly lit screen can normally get me at least 90 minutes of usage. I can't believe how much power it takes to run USB 3G modems. Pretty crazy huh?

Netshare Shutdown, more iPhone Regression

I have, in the past, lodged a few complaints towards Apple on how it has regressed to stimulate mobile movement by increasing its iPhone Data Plan (AT&T has a hand in this one) as well as removing the ability to activate iPhone from home (via iTunes). While I admired iPhone firmware 2.0's app store functionality, I've remained on the sideline before jumping into any conclusions. As an owner of a 1st Gen iPhone and iPhone 3G, I was at first wondering if with the advent of Apple App Store, will jailbreaking the iPhones make any more sense, in other words, having apps available to download legitimately would remove the need to use 3rd party applications via Cydia or Installer 4.

Lately, it has become clear that the app store is more of a facade and with Apple enforcing so many restrictions on the developers, the applications available are merely miniature web apps or mobile widgets. I've yet to see powerful applications providing a wide range of functionality. On top of that, developers pushing the envelope finds their software pulled from the store. The spotlight is shining on Netshare, an app built by Nullriver, meant to give iPhone users the ability to tether to laptops as wireless modem is no longer available for download. According to this Wired article, Apple may have pulled it because of AT&T agreement which prevents iPhone data plans from being used for data tethering. Generally speaking, I've yet to find any serious productivity application available from the app store. If you want to run VOIP, you are better off with fring which is available only to jailbroken iPhones. If you want to record video, once again, you can find that within the 3rd party "installer" catalog.

In conclusion, while I enjoy the way app store operate (so simple to use), I am not impressed by the way Apple restricts application developers. I hope to see more powerful applications to increase my productivity; until then, looks like Cydia or Installer 4 is the way to go!

iPhone 3G Data Plan Gives 0 SMS

If you plan to buy or upgrade to the new iPhone 3G come July 11th, in addition to the new $30 unlimited data plan (currently at reasonable $20/month), be prepared to shell out $5 more for a mere 200 SMS that once was part of the package. This, over the 24-month contracted period, translates into $360 more over the first gen iPhone data plan in a two year period. This is starting to piss me off. Basically, they are turning a gadget which was suppose to be a one-time impulse purchase into a car-payment like structure (ie. 0 down payment, high interest scheme).

The original iPhone did not come with a 3G chip, which is its own flaw. Just by adding the 3G chipset into the new iPhone doesn't warrant AT&T to charge a $10 premium for the already 3G service; not to mention not everywhere in the U.S. have AT&T 3G coverage; which means some folks will be stuck with EDGE while paying $10 per month more. Additionally, with the increased cost, they should be increasing the SMS not taking it away.