AT&T will buy WayPort. More good news for iPhone users!
4phun
AT&T will buy WayPort. More good news for iPhone users!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122598801123705301.html
You can now drop into any McDonald's and have FREE wifi on your
iPhone!
The deal expands AT&T's hot spots -- areas where customers can tap
into Wi-Fi networks -- to 20,000 in the U.S. That includes the
networks Wayport operates at Wyndham, Marriott Vacation Club and Four
Seasons hotels as well as McDonald's Corp. restaurants.
Non AT&T prefered customers may also use these wifi hotspots for $20 a
month. All of them are free to iPhone users. There is the Easy WiFi
app at the iPhone store where you can get one click access at any AT&T
spot with out even using the browser and SMS method those with out the
Easy WiFi app must go through.
I already had checked Micky Dees yesterday and was able to instantly
connect with one click using Easy Wifi. I had been trying
unsuccessfully for months to get free acess at McDonald s.
Life is good and getting better every day if you have an iPhone.
Today ComputerWorld said the iPhone ranked the highest of all smart
phones in user satisfaction among business users.
Not bad, if you have an iPhone.
4phun
MORE HEADLINES
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using ...
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JD Power ranks Apple’s iPhone highest in new study Macworld
4phun
MORE
AT&T exec confirms iPhone tethering on the way
from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) by Robert Palmer
Filed under: iPhone
How's this for a telephone game: Technologizer's Harry McCracken
reports that AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega told Michael Arrington
that the iPhone will be allowed to work as a tethered wireless modem
for notebooks. It will be available "soon."
That is the same event where AT&T brass disclosed they have remarkable
future extensions to the iPhone being developed by none other than the
world famous AT&T LABS.
AT&T plans to kick ass with the iPhone for some time to come.
--
De la Vega [just] let loose with a laundry list of future
applications and usage scenarios for the device, which included the
following:
http://en.oreilly.com/web2008/public/schedule/speaker/15102
http://www.pcworld.com/article/153435/atandt_brass_talks_big_on_future_of_iphone.html
Before the iPhone wakes you up in the morning with its alarm clock, De
la Vega says, it will have already loaded all of your daily news feeds
onto the phone. It will also have already sent a wireless message to
your coffee maker to get the coffee ready. While you're sitting there
drinking your coffee, he says, you might decide that you'd rather read
your news on the TV screen; so with a wave of the device toward the
TV, de la Vega says, you'll send your news feeds wirelessly from the
phone to the TV for reading.
Now you leave the house, and use your iPhone to lock the door on the
way out. You get in the car. The iPhone starts your car. On the way to
work, the iPhone continues reading your news to you using its text-to-
speech function.
Later on, at your office, the iPhone initiates a conference call
between you and two potential customers in Japan. On the call, when
you speak English, the iPhone translates it to Japanese so that your
potential customers can understand you. When they answer in Japanese,
the iPhone converts their speech into English so you can understand
them.
De la Vega says there's a lot of experimentation and testing going on
in AT&T's labs to integrate the iPhone with AT&T's fiber optic-based
IPTV service, U-Verse. The iPhone will become a remote control for the
the service, a scenario in which you'll use the device (and its on-
screen keyboard) to search for programming in U-Verse (or presumably
from the open internet), playing it either on the TV itself or on the
iPhone. De la Vega didn't go too much further into this, but we're
assuming that once the iPhone is integrated with the U-Verse TV
service, the U-Verse DVR will become more and more like TiVo and the
iPhone will control it either from the couch, or from across the
country.
Some of this sounds pretty far-flung to me, and if this were some
start-up company talking about these "exciting new plans," I'd
probably take it with a grain of salt. But in my experience, AT&T
plays it pretty close to the vest on its future plans, and usually
does what it says it will do.
<snip>
During the Q&A, an audience member asked De la Vega what AT&T planned
to do about areas like New York City where the 3G network coverage is
spotty. Beyond it's normal network upgrade process, AT&T says it will
begin using a new swath of 850 MHz spectrum to deliver a clearer,
stronger signal in densely populated areas. De la Vega also says his
company will be market testing femtocell technology in some markets in
2009; femtocell devices connect to wireless broadband networks indoors
and help boost the connections of wireless devices like the iPhone.
--
One last note AT&T will give new AT&T BB users free nationwide wifi
too.
BB with any other cellular carrier - no free wifi for you!
You will have to pay AT&T $20 a month to play.
Adrian C
> You can now drop into any McDonald's and have FREE wifi on your
> iPhone!
> Life is good and getting better every day if you have an iPhone.
This won't cost AT&T that much.
Not many iPhone users will be alive for long if they continuously keep
dropping into MacDonalds...
--
Adrian C
Larry
b92e0e...@u29g2000pro.googlegroups.com:
> Not bad, if you have an iPhone.
>
Free wifi for everyone:
All Chick-fil-A restaurants
All Atlanta Bread (those that are left, anyway)
All Panera Bread
All IHOP restaurants
Most hotels and motels...you're in room 202.
Any new Denny's restaurants just built or going up
(older Denny's will have wifi after Christmas they told me.)
local Charleston area -
Charleston Airport
Pizza Roma family of restaurants
Any Charleston marina
The City of Charleston, Downtown (110Kbps free, pay for more)
many independent sellphone dealers
W4CSC's tower of power serving a 2 mile radius around the Charleston AFB
main gate...(c;] "Broadband for the troops in the barracks."
Chick-f-a has a nanny and webpage logon...spam
Panera Bread has a logon webpage, no nanny
Atlanta Bread did but went belly up.
Smaller motels/hotels are just routers, usually named "Linksys".
McDonald's, here, is like you describe but noone uses it with all this free
service...or Starbucks, only the naive.
Todd Allcock
"4phun" <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:628fad18-ee5e-41ff...@u29g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
> I already had checked Micky Dees yesterday and was able to instantly
> connect with one click using Easy Wifi. I had been trying
> unsuccessfully for months to get free acess at McDonald s.
>
> Life is good and getting better every day if you have an iPhone.
While this is certainly a perq for iPhone users, all this "free WiFi for
iPhones" seems like a desperate attempt to get iPhone users OFF AT&T's
overloaded 3G network. ;-)
C. Sowash
On 6-Nov-2008, 4phun <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The deal expands AT&T's hot spots -- areas where customers can tap
> into Wi-Fi networks -- to 20,000 in the U.S. That includes the
> networks Wayport operates at Wyndham, Marriott Vacation Club and Four
> Seasons hotels as well as McDonald's Corp. restaurants.
Given the speed and universal availability of 3G data access, why would I go to
McDonalds for WiFi?
Charles
<cso...@nospamComcast.net> wrote:
> Given the speed and universal availability of 3G data access, why
> would I go to McDonalds for WiFi?
I am finding I usually use the WiFi mainly at home. The log ons can be
a pain away from home so I turn off WiFi and use the 3G. For example at
Panera Bread if your iPhone goes to sleep you have to log on again. For
3G you don't have to do anything. However while 3G does seem to be
universal in my home area I have encountered a few outland places that
are Edge. There the WiFi would be useful.
--
Charles
4phun
> In article <lL2dndwTYuOzNY7UnZ2dnUVZ_tidn...@giganews.com>, C. Sowash
Use Easy WiFi.
Login anywhere with the iPhone while using Easy WiFi is automatic,
painless after it has been set up the first time.
BTW did anyone notice the AT&T CEO has just joined Sprint in
rejecting the Google Android as unacceptable for working on their cell
network. That leaves only Verizon as the only major network left. If
Verizon rejects the Google OS too then Android is probably dead.
Todd Allcock
> Given the speed and universal availability of 3G data access, why would I
> go to McDonalds for WiFi?
The two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and
onions on a sesame seed bun?
Todd Allcock
> BTW did anyone notice the AT&T CEO has just joined Sprint in
> rejecting the Google Android as unacceptable for working on their cell
> network.
"AT&T CEO Ralph De La Vega says... "The platform is still evolving and
needs to open up even more..."
Oh, the irony! The CEO of the company selling a phone that can't make its
first call with first getting permission from iTunes, says the open-source
Android needs to "open up more."
> That leaves only Verizon as the only major network left. If
> Verizon rejects the Google OS too then Android is probably dead.
It's a big wide world out there. If no American carrier other than T-Mo
gets behind it, oh well- that drops the potential market from what, 2
billion users to 1.8 billion?
Besides, since Android is open-source, it'll likely "sneak in the backdoor"
of all carriers as manufacturers start using it on lower-end phones.
Motorola is working on Android phones- after they launch their flashy touch-
screen model, it only makes sense that their R&D expenditure will be
recycled into lower-end feature phones like future RAZRs, KRZRs, LAZRs,
MAZRs or any other vowel-challenged phones they create in the future.
No CEO feels the need to comment on the suitability of whatever proprietary
crapware runs on every low-to-mid-end Moto, Sony, LG, Nokia, Pantech, or
Samsung they fob off on their customers- why is Android so special it
deserves bashing by AT&T's and Sprint's CEOs...
...other than they can't get one for six months or so, until someone other
than HTC (who's G1 is currently exclusive to T-Mo) finishes one. When
Motorola finally releases theirs in 2Q or 3Q 2009, let's see how fast
whichever carrier lands it decides Android is "finally ready."
Marc Stibane
Funny - when I was a school boy, McD had one week where you should say
this sentence in under 5 seconds to get a free coke. Every day after
school I dropped into the local "restaurant" to get mine...
translated into german:
Zwei Lagen reines Rindfleisch, Spezialsauce, Salat, Essiggurke, Käse,
Zwiebel in einem getoastetem Sesambrötchen - MacDonalds BigMac.
--
In a world without walls and fences,
who needs windows and gates?
Charles
<607960db-2853-4fa8...@a3g2000prm.googlegroups.com>,
4phun <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Use Easy WiFi.
I will check it out.
--
Charles
4phun
Todd
I happened to notice your post.
Don't you think that many fail to realize the Global recession is real
and picking up steam?
There is a little outfit called Qualcomm that is already feeling the
pain as cell phone purchases have fallen like a rock. (See yesterday's
news)
Apple has already cut the iPhone outlook by at least 40% or more for
this quarter.
If Android has zip potential right now where will Android be in a crap
market?
Could those firms like Motorola that are hemorrhaging money cut
development of Android in a sudden move to save the sinking ship?
Could we look at GM and Chrysler to see what happens to future
development when sales plummet?
Personally I wish those tinkering with Android no harm, but I hope
that isn't their day job.
Todd Allcock
> > You can now drop into any McDonald's and have FREE wifi on your
> > iPhone!
>
> Um, right now you can drop into any McD's and have FREE wifi on ANYTHING.
That's operator or market dependent. In many areas, like mine, McD's are
standard Wayport outlets- you need to pay by the hour,or have a Wayport
(or Wayport roaming partner) subscription.
Larry
@aioe.org:
> While this is certainly a perq for iPhone users, all this "free WiFi for
> iPhones" seems like a desperate attempt to get iPhone users OFF AT&T's
> overloaded 3G network. ;-)
>
>
Very perceptive, VERY perceptive....(c;]
Larry
3abac5...@a3g2000prm.googlegroups.com:
> BTW did anyone notice the AT&T CEO has just joined Sprint in
> rejecting the Google Android as unacceptable for working on their cell
> network. That leaves only Verizon as the only major network left. If
> Verizon rejects the Google OS too then Android is probably dead.
>
>
They're not buying any more Motorola products? All new Motos will be
Android phones!
I don't think Android is gonna fly because it will run uncontrollable
software on the sellphone networks. This means it would kill the $3.99
software cashcows AND use actual BANDWIDTH, which must be resisted at all
costs.
Todd Allcock
> > BTW did anyone notice the AT&T CEO has just joined Sprint in
> > rejecting the Google Android as unacceptable for working on their cell
> > network. That leaves only Verizon as the only major network left. If
> > Verizon rejects the Google OS too then Android is probably dead.
>
>
> They're not buying any more Motorola products? All new Motos will be
> Android phones!
I've seen speculation, but nothing definitive from Motorola.
> I don't think Android is gonna fly because it will run uncontrollable
> software on the sellphone networks. This means it would kill the $3.99
> software cashcows AND use actual BANDWIDTH, which must be resisted at all
> costs.
It doesn't matter. The cellular networks always have the upper hand. Like
AT&T with the iPhone, T-Mobile created a new data plan just for the G1
Android handset. T-Mo is reportedly even putting an automatic mechanism in
place later this month that if you move your SIM card from a "dumbphone"
into a G1, trying to use the G1 on a cheaper dumbphone data plan, you'll be
texted that you'll be automatically switched to the G1 plan if you access
data from that handset.
Wireless carriers don't need to fear "open" devices as long as they control
the pipes, any more than electric companies need to fear high-wattage
appliances! ;-)
Todd Allcock
> > why is Android so special it
> > deserves bashing by AT&T's and Sprint's CEOs...
> >
> > ...other than they can't get one for six months or so, until someone
other
> > than HTC (who's G1 is currently exclusive to T-Mo) finishes one. When
> > Motorola finally releases theirs in 2Q or 3Q 2009, let's see how fast
> > whichever carrier lands it decides Android is "finally ready."
>
> Todd
>
> I happened to notice your post.
>
> Don't you think that many fail to realize the Global recession is real
> and picking up steam?
No, I think they realize that. If anything, that makes basing an entire
line of products on one OS even more attractive.
> There is a little outfit called Qualcomm that is already feeling the
> pain as cell phone purchases have fallen like a rock. (See yesterday's
> news)
>
> Apple has already cut the iPhone outlook by at least 40% or more for
> this quarter.
>
> If Android has zip potential right now where will Android be in a crap
> market?
Quietly running a pile of bland low-end handsets produced for minimal cost,
perhaps? There are really only two growth areas in cellular right now-
smartphones, and really cheap low-end handsets for emerging markets like
Africa, India, etc.
> Could those firms like Motorola that are hemorrhaging money cut
> development of Android in a sudden move to save the sinking ship?
Maybe, but on the other hand, it might make a "free" OS that's already done
90% of the work for you even more attractive. You write a few drivers,
slap on a company-
themed startup logo and jingle, and you've got a handset. In fact,
creating Android versions of current popular handsets allows milking the
same hardware for another year, reducing hardware R&D- picture a new "RAZR
3 with Android"- the same old RAZR2 handset with the Android OS on it. The
R&D cost to Motorola? A fraction of what they'll spend marketing it!
> Could we look at GM and Chrysler to see what happens to future
> development when sales plummet?
Sure- continued sales of the same old crap in new colors and with new trim.
Android could be that new trim!
> Personally I wish those tinkering with Android no harm, but I hope
> that isn't their day job.
Apple, IMO, is uniquely prepared to ride out this downturn at least short-
term- their iPhone 3G is still popular, and users aren't clamoring for a
new model just yet. They'll have lower sales, just like everyone else, but
they won't be blowing R&D money like everyone else is trying to come up
with the "next iPhone killer."
Larry
> Wireless carriers don't need to fear "open" devices as long as they
> control the pipes, any more than electric companies need to fear
> high-wattage appliances! ;-)
>
>
This doesn't explain the sellphone carrier hobbleware they always install
in the name of "firmware" that disables some of the most basic functions
like COPY and MOVE for simple files like pictures and MP3.
Wireless carriers shit on their customers any time they think they can SELL
them the very functions the phones were designed to do right out of the
box.
Everyone here knows all about hobbleware. It's what Jailbreaking is all
about.
4phun
AT&T is increaseing their network speeds to 18Mb Sunday 10/09/2008 -
AT&T WiFi should get faster if connected to AT&T U-verse broadband.
AT&T Inc. is lifting the top speed of its U-verse broadband service
from 10 megabits to 18 megabits.
The boost in speed starts Sunday, according to Dallas-based AT&T.
The service will be available for $65 a month and is included in a
bundle with AT&T’s television service.
AT&T says it has about 14.8 million broadband lines in service. Its U-
verse broadband service is available in 15 states, including Georgia.
--
It gets better and better for iPhone owners! ;>)
4phun
BlackBerry Bold: Good, but no iPhone - Dallas Morning News
CNET News
http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/blackberry-bold-good-but-no-ip.html
BlackBerry Bold: Good, but no iPhone
Dallas Morning News, TX - 8 hours ago
Still, despite being the best BlackBerry ever, the Bold lags way
behind Apple's iPhone, which costs $100 less. The iPhone's greatest
virtue is its elegant ...
BlackBerry Bold: Good, but no iPhone - Dallas Morning News
MORE
Apple's iPhone outsells BlackBerry, report says - CBC.ca
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/11/07/tech-smartphones.html
Product Reviews
Apple's iPhone outsells BlackBerry, report says
CBC.ca, Canada - 4 hours ago
Apple has moved into second place in the smartphone market with its
iPhone, according to a report. (Eric Risberg/Associated Press) Apple
Inc.'s iPhone ...
Apple's iPhone outsells BlackBerry - Telegraph.co.uk
Apple's iPhone outsells BlackBerry
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 3 hours ago
Apple's iPhone overtaken sales of BlackBerries to become the second-
largest provider of smartphones, according to analysts. By Urmee Khan
Over 39.9 million ...
iPhone Touch Screen is Showing the Way U.S. News & World Report
Apple's iPhone makes headway in corporate market Reuters
CNNMoney.com - VNUNet.com
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&ncl=1267911776
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&ncl=1267701784
Larry
90d3c9...@r37g2000prr.googlegroups.com:
> AT&T Inc. is lifting the top speed of its U-verse broadband service
> from 10 megabits to 18 megabits.
>
Too bad noone has desktop computers than can use that much data that fast.
If your computer had a 64KB buffer (x 8 = 512K bits), that buffer will
fill, halting traffic into it, in .512Mb / 18Mb = 28ms that must be dumped
by the computer before it can download more. Every 28ms, the bucket would
be full again. Even if you increase the buffer size to some huge value,
the data pouring into it cannot be processed, ESPECIALLY not stored on our
archaically slow hard drives turning so slow at 7200 RPM.
ATT, and any of their competitors, knows that delivering 500 Mbps to home
computers is in no danger of overloading anything, especially if that
computer also has to process or decode or display that data stream.
DSL reports feels your iphone pain and has a special speedtest for it at:
http://i.dslr.net/iphone_speedtest.html
There's some kind of software crap thru itunes they mentioned, too.
I ran the iphone speedtest and it says 3066Kbps on my N800 Linux tablet
when I clicked the wifi button. When I ran the graphic Flash 8 speed test
on the regular DSL reports, it only showed 873Kbps and a popup warning came
from the tablet's flash player:
"A script in this movie is causing Adobe Flash Player 9 to run slowly. If
it continues to run, your computer may become unresponsive. So you want to
abort the script?" and wanted me to make it stop.
These slower speeds on the slower tablet computer show you how useless
18Mbps will be to a normal, everyday, home computer. It's certainly not
worth paying extra for over about 6-7Mbps.
Bob Haar
> 4phun <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote in news:afdbde51-1f2e-4e3f-8966-
> 90d3c9...@r37g2000prr.googlegroups.com:
>
>> AT&T Inc. is lifting the top speed of its U-verse broadband service
>> from 10 megabits to 18 megabits.
>>
>
> Too bad noone has desktop computers than can use that much data that fast.
Too bad you don't know what you are talking about. I routinely get real
transfers over my Gigabit Ethernet an order of magnitude faster than that.
Now going through DSL or cable modem involves other bottlenecks but it has
nothing to do with the network capacity of the computers.
4phun
YOUR IPHONE IS FAR MORE RELIABLE
SquareTrade Study: iPhones more reliable than BlackBerry, Treo
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2008/11/malfunctionsmartphone.jpg
The report, titled "iPhone More Reliable than BlackBerry, One Year
In", analyzes failure rates for more than 15,000 new cell phones
covered by SquareTrade warranties. SquareTrade found that after one
year of ownership, iPhone owners were half as likely as BlackBerry
owners to have a phone failure, and one-third as likely as Treo
owners.
EVEN MORE BREAKING GOOD NEWS FOR IPHONE
ANY WEBSITE CAN NOW BE INSTANTLY IPHONIZED
http://digg.com/tech_news/HOW_TO_Instantly_iPhone_ize_Your_Website
British developer Jon Wheatley let loose an awesome little tool today:
Intersquash lets you convert any website into an iPhone site…
instantly.
Video at link just click through DIGG
News
4phun wrote:
> MORE GOOD NEWS FOR IPHONE USERS 11/08/08
>
> YOUR IPHONE IS FAR MORE RELIABLE
What's the chief failure mode on a drinks coaster?
Marc Heusser
News <Ne...@Group.name> wrote:
> What's the chief failure mode on a drinks coaster?
rupture after being too wet of course :-)
Marc
--
remove bye and from mercial to get valid e-mail
<http://www.heusser.com>
Todd Allcock
> MORE GOOD NEWS FOR IPHONE USERS 11/08/08
>
> YOUR IPHONE IS FAR MORE RELIABLE
>
> SquareTrade Study: iPhones more reliable than BlackBerry, Treo
>
>
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2008/11/malfunctionsmartphone.jpg
>
> The report, titled "iPhone More Reliable than BlackBerry, One Year
> In", analyzes failure rates for more than 15,000 new cell phones
> covered by SquareTrade warranties. SquareTrade found that after one
> year of ownership, iPhone owners were half as likely as BlackBerry
> owners to have a phone failure, and one-third as likely as Treo
> owners.
Well, manufacturing defects, perhaps, but you missed this part:
"As it turns out, an iPhone user is more than twice as likely to experience
an iPhone failure due to
accidental damage than through a handset malfunction. An astounding 12% of
iPhone owners
have reported a failure due to accidental damage at the 1 year mark, and
nearly a quarter of all
iPhone owners can be expected to have their phone fail from an accident by
the end of 2 years."
"This accident rate is higher than the 9% accident rate reported on all
other phones by one-third..."
While the slippery case and akward form factor are sited by Squaretrade as
the reason, you also have to wonder if the product just isn't as shock
resistant as other handsets due to things like the glass screen. I've
dropped many a cell phone in my lifetime, onto a variety of surfaces
including concrete, and to my utter astonishment, I've never broken a
single phone directly from a drop, despite sending parts and pieces like
batteries, doors, memory cards, front cases, etc. flying in all directions
(although I attribute the demise of my last WinMo phone to a nasty drop
onto a tile floor. A day or two later, the USB charge/sync port broke
loose- I suspect the timing of the failure was not a coincidence,
particularly since the breaking loose of the port on that model iss a
fairly common failure point.)
Even more interesting, the Squaretrade data primarily covers the first year
when the normal manufacture's warranty applies anyway, and might be
affected by this disclaimer in the Squaretrade report:
"The following disclaimers apply to our data and analysis:
- Only malfunctions reported directly to SquareTrade are included in the
data. Other
malfunctions, including software issues handled directly by the retailer,
problems
associated with product recalls, and those fixed by software/firmware
updates, may not be represented in this data."
I'm wondering how Squaretrade would even know about first-year in-warranty
failures unless warranty owners contacted ST first, only to be referred to
the carrier or manufacturer. (I'm not suggesting this would skew the
results in Apple's favor, just wondering if the failure rates for ALL
brands in the study aren't even higher than ST thinks!)
> EVEN MORE BREAKING GOOD NEWS FOR IPHONE
>
> ANY WEBSITE CAN NOW BE INSTANTLY IPHONIZED
> http://digg.com/tech_news/HOW_TO_Instantly_iPhone_ize_Your_Website
>
> British developer Jon Wheatley let loose an awesome little tool today:
> Intersquash lets you convert any website into an iPhone site…
> instantly.
Forgetting that whole tired "if the iPhone can view 'the real web' why is
this necessary?" argument for the moment, Intersquash is a neat idea. But
I'll pick on the "iPhonizing of ANY website" quote since the tool just
reformats a site's RSS feed into an HTML iphone-friendly format. While
that's certainly useful for news or blog-type sites, it really doesn't do
much for other types of site, and begs the question why not just use an RSS
reader if you want to limit yourself to the RSS feed of a site?
While we're on the subject, if I can beg a favor from ALL developers of
mobile sites- while we appreciate your efforts, could you always put a
"view full version" button on your mobile site (that actually WORKS- yes,
I'm talking to you T-Mobile!) in case there's some content on the "real"
site we need and are willing to put up with bad rendering, broken links,
and non-functioning Java to get?
Mike
The large screen and slim case naturally make it vulnerable to damage,
but maybe less so that sliding phones. Mine is in a silicone case and
has resisted a drops of 3ft. The case makes it a lot less likely to get
knocked off a table, slip out of my hand or out of a pocket.
Perhaps even the kind of consumer that buys the phone may make it more
vulnerable. I suspect more 'serious' business devices are not bought by
or for kids who get through phones at an alarming rate. In my
experience women are more likely to loose or damage phones but maybe
that's just the women in my life and work place!
Ruggedising & making mobile phones water resistant would add bulk and
make them a lot less pretty! I could live with a bulkier, less pretty
iphone with a rubberised finish for the screen and functionality - oh
wait; I do!
Mike
Larry
news:07KdnYlf5o1PeIvU...@speakeasy.net:
> What's the chief failure mode on a drinks coaster?
>
>
Battery leakage??....(c;]
4phun
IPhone Crowned Top Cell Phone In U.S.
and what is even more Amazing Only AT&T Has It!
By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek
November 10, 2008 08:00 PM
Apple's iPhone 3G was the best-selling mobile phone in the United
States in the third quarter, surpassing former champion theMotorola
(NYSE: MOT) Razr, which fell to second place, a market research firm
said Monday.
Nevertheless, the iPhone's popularity among U.S. consumers failed to
lift the overall market. Handset purchases overall declined 15% from
the same period a year ago to 32 million units, the NPD Group said.
Handset revenue fell 10% to $2.9 billion, even though the average
selling price rose 6% to $88.
The Razr was ranked the top-selling consumer handset for 12
consecutive quarters. The iPhone's ascension represented a "watershed
shift in handset design from fashion to fashionable functionality,"
NPD analyst Ross Rubin said in a statement.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/iphone/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212001650
This report also ran on NPR's
All Things Considered 11/10/08
Poor Verizon, Sprint -
No iPhone for you, keep pushing those Razrs ;>)
On Nov 9, 12:35 am, 4phun <vic.hea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> MORE GOOD NEWS FOR IPHONE USERS 11/08/08
>
> YOUR IPHONE IS FAR MORE RELIABLE
>
> SquareTrade Study: iPhones more reliable than BlackBerry, Treo
>
> http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2008/11/malfunctionsmartpho...
>
> The report, titled "iPhone More Reliable than BlackBerry, One Year
> In", analyzes failure rates for more than 15,000 new cell phones
> covered by SquareTrade warranties. SquareTrade found that after one
> year of ownership, iPhone owners were half as likely as BlackBerry
> owners to have a phone failure, and one-third as likely as Treo
> owners.
>
> EVEN MORE BREAKING GOOD NEWS FOR IPHONE
>
> ANY WEBSITE CAN NOW BE INSTANTLY IPHONIZEDhttp://digg.com/tech_news/HOW_TO_Instantly_iPhone_ize_Your_Website
Larry
7b23de...@h23g2000prf.googlegroups.com:
> Apple's iPhone 3G was the best-selling mobile phone in the United
> States in the third quarter,
Apple will sell X iPhones this year. If you REALLY want to see some
screwy reporting, put "iphone sales 2009" into Google Search and see the
wild numbers from 10M to 45M in 2009. It's almost...well....as if
someone...is, er, ah....MANIPULATING the numbers. So, I can only use X.
Think about this closely, now. If that's the best selling phone in the
USA, IS THAT ALL THE PHONES AMERICANS ARE BUYING NOW?
If this is true, sellphone sales in America is in SERIOUS trouble......
We WERE selling hundreds of millions of phones in the USA in late years.
Obviously, if iPhone is #1, now, those sales have stopped.
.....On the "Most Curious" front....
According to:
http://bullcross.blogspot.com/2008/10/now-that-apple-has-reported-
its.html
"GOOG trades at 7.18 times its cash position, RIMM at 15.51 times cash,
AMZN at 9.15 times cash, MSFT at 9.13 times cash, CSCO at 3.62 times
cash, IBM at 10.96 times cash, INTC at 6.54 times cash, and HPQ at 5.15
times cash. What is more, only GOOG, AAPL and MSFT have no debt of the
companies mentioned above. Apple has the largest net cash position than
any of those companies and Apple has more net cash than RIMM, GOOG, AMZN
and IBM combined. I will take up the issue of valuation later on this
week where I'll give a comprehensive analysis of several large cap tech
companies. Preliminary research indicates that Apple is extensively more
undervalued than every other large cap tech company at current levels
and this is due almost exclusively to the subscription method of
accounting. In order for Apple to be trading at the same current
valuation as GOOG, RIMM, AMZN, MSFT, CSCO and IBM, Apple would have to
be trading at $206.25 – and that's after this current correction in the
market place. The fact of the matter is, Wall Street never valued Apple
properly prior to the beginning of this bear market. Apple should have
been trading at $300 before this recent downturn and even after this
excessive sell-off, Apple should be trading at $158.92 at current S&P
levels. I leave it to my readers to make their inferences about where
Apple might be headed in 2009 and 2010. Much more to follow."
Apple has more CASH than Amazon, Google, RIMM and IBM COMBINED?!!
WTF??
It's stock is shit, dropping to $95/share, down from near $200?!
Someone needs to do a serious audit! SOMEONE IS COOKIN' DA BOOKS!
Someone is a LIAR.....a felony liar, at best.
Nigel
bbb0aae2-37e9-44f2...@h23g2000prf.googlegroups.com, 4phun at
vic.h...@gmail.com wrote on 11/11/08 1:54 PM:
>> Intersquash lets you convert any website into an iPhone siteŠ
>> instantly.
>>
>> Video at link just click through DIGG
>
No surprise - I hated my RAZR. Funny to think about the internet experience
on the RAZR compared to the iPhone - talk about the dark ages. Long live
the iphone (until someone makes something even better at least).
Nigel
4phun
application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone in March.
The Austin-based game developer just wanted to have some fun.
That fun has turned into a multimillion-dollar business for
Greenstone’s Pangea Software Inc. Although his game development
business launched in 1987, the revenue generated in six months by just
two of its iPhone games has matched the retail revenue of all of
Pangea’s preceding personal computer games combined, he says.
Instead of looking in the mouth of such a gift horse, Greenstone is
jumping aboard and riding it all the way to the bank by forgoing the
PC market to focus exclusively on iPhone games.
--
More Good for iPhone Users
Google has forsaken their own gPhone to release a FREE voice driven
search engine for the iPhone. Why? The iPhone is now the number one
best selling smartphone in the USA.
4phun
Another improvement from Google makes the US iPhone even easier to use
Google Revamps Its Search Results Pages for the iPhone
from AppCraver by Michael Alexander
Google-iphone search-optimized
Google Software Engineers, Steve Kanefsky and Rob Stacey, just
announced on the official Google mobile team blog that as of now, when
iPhone owners run a search on Google.com. they’ll get results that are
better optimized for their phones. You’ll get the same Google search
results, but they’ll be arranged more efficiently and user-friendly,
the engineers say.
Search results are formatted specifically for the iPhone’s screen, so
you no longer have to scroll from side-to-side. Local search results
now include easier-to-press “Get Directions” and “Click-to-Call”
links.
When there’s single or multiple listing that is accessible using the
“Show Map” link, the map pops up by default.
If you prefer the classic desktop search results format, tap the
‘Classic” link near the bottom of each page and everything will be the
same as it ever was.
For now, the newly formatted results pages are available only in U.S.
English and for iPhone and iPod Touch firmware version 2.x. The two
mobile team engineers say Google intends to make the newly formatted
results pages available on the iPhone and other devices and in more
languages and countries.
They don’t say when that will happen, however.
4phun
> in article
> bbb0aae2-37e9-44f2-9973-7b23de63b...@h23g2000prf.googlegroups.com, 4phun at
> vic.hea...@gmail.com wrote on 11/11/08 1:54 PM:
>
>
>
> > 11/10/08 - Motorola Razr Finally Dethroned!
>
> > IPhone Crowned Top Cell Phone In U.S.
> > and what is even more Amazing Only AT&T Has It!
>
> > By Antone Gonsalves
> > InformationWeek
> > November 10, 2008 08:00 PM
>
> > Apple's iPhone 3G was the best-selling mobile phone in the United
> > States in the third quarter, surpassing former champion theMotorola
> > (NYSE: MOT) Razr, which fell to second place, a market research firm
> > said Monday.
>
> > Nevertheless, the iPhone's popularity among U.S. consumers failed to
> > lift the overall market. Handset purchases overall declined 15% from
> > the same period a year ago to 32 million units, the NPD Group said.
> > Handset revenue fell 10% to $2.9 billion, even though the average
> > selling price rose 6% to $88.
>
> > The Razr was ranked the top-selling consumer handset for 12
> > consecutive quarters. The iPhone's ascension represented a "watershed
> > shift in handset design from fashion to fashionable functionality,"
> > NPD analyst Ross Rubin said in a statement.
>
American Airlines first to offer iPhone mobile boarding passes
In what will no doubt be the first among several who will offer this
(it’s about time!), American Airlines is now the first airline to
officially offer mobile boarding passes at a few airports but it
shouldn’t take long for this to be available at all airports, across
all airlines.
For those who travel frequently, it’s obviously more convenient to
show your iPhone screen rather than looking in your backpack for the
right piece of paper.
Is this the wave of the future? More than likely. American Airlines
started to make this mobile boarding pass option available to people
who travel from Chicago O’Hare Airport, LAX, and John Wayne Airport,
and it is leading the way for all other airlines. More airlines will
probably follow in the near future, and it’s yet another example of
the iPhone’s penetration into the everyday consciousness of business.
This is one of several recent events that could give the iPhone a
commanding lead far over any other cell phone trying to catch Apple.
nospam
<b81d2067-f1af-4522...@a3g2000prm.googlegroups.com>,
4phun <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
> American Airlines first to offer iPhone mobile boarding passes
actually they aren't the first. continental has had it for a while and
it isn't just an iphone either.
> For those who travel frequently, itís obviously more convenient to
> show your iPhone screen rather than looking in your backpack for the
> right piece of paper.
it's much easier to show a piece of paper than it is to deal with a
phone which is probably already in a bag for going through the x-ray
machine (can't have it on your person for the metal detector).
the only real advantage is on line check in while traveling and not
having access to a printer, although even that isn't a big deal since
the kiosk will reprint it.
> This is one of several recent events that could give the iPhone a
> commanding lead far over any other cell phone trying to catch Apple.
it's nothing new and it's not iphone specific. long ago, prior to the
requirement to have a boarding pass to enter the secure area, it was
possible to check in via any phone and then show a gold/platinum card
at the gate which the gate agent inserted into the machine and
retrieved the info and printed a boarding pass.
Ron
already, so where does AA get off calling themselves first???
nospam
<ron.cl...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
> Continental Airlines has had Mobile Boarding pass for almost a year
> already, so where does AA get off calling themselves first???
they don't, nor do they mention iphones
<http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081113/american_airlines_boarding_passes.html>
Ron
wrote:
Your snipping the link proving Continental did it last year in 2007,
doesnt make AA first.
Todd Allcock
"Ron" <ron.cl...@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:7sl2i4pk70gihr0ma...@4ax.com...
Um, he was SUPPORTING your position, not arguing with you! He merely
pointed out that 4phun's original post was, like most of his rantings,
exaggerated, and provided a link showing that AA's press release did NOT
claim they were first (as 4phun suggested) nor did it say it was for iPhones
only (also as 4phun suggested.)
I guess you're just so used to people arguing with you that you can't
recognize support when you see it!
nospam
<ron.cl...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
> Your snipping the link proving Continental did it last year in 2007,
> doesnt make AA first.
i *said* aa wasn't first, so there was no need to keep the link, and in
my other reply, i specifically mentioned continental doing it before
aa. i also said it had nothing to do with iphones and actually sounds
like more of a pain than using a piece of paper. sometimes low tech is
the best solution.
4phun
far the best update to any app ever at the iTunes store.
FAST
ACCURATE
AND BEYOND EASY TO USE
INSTANT RESULTS CUSTOMIZED FOR THE IPHONE!
This application alone will sell a ton of iPhones this season. It is
that good!
And so far you will only find it on the iPhone at AT&T
To bad, so sad, if you can't have it!
;>)
4phun
MORE
Features
Voice Search.New! Speak your queries without even pushing a single
button.
Search with My Location.New! Search for business, weather, and movie
information without specifying where you are.
Local search suggestions on a map. See nearby business suggestions on
Google Maps -- just tap the "near me" suggestions.
Instant access to search. Start a Google search with just one click.
Google Suggest. Get relevant search suggestions as you type, saving
you keystrokes.
URL suggestions. Get to popular web sites quickly by tapping site web
address suggestions.
Contact search. Quickly find contacts in your address book.
Search history. Get instant access to your previous searches.
Easy access to other Google products. Launch other Google products
like Maps, Gmail and News from the Apps tab.
http://phobos.apple.com/webobjects/mzstore.woa/wa/viewsoftware?id=284815942&mt=8
Larry
3fa84f...@w1g2000prk.googlegroups.com:
> To bad, so sad, if you can't have it!
>
> ;>)
>
>
>
You stupid ass. The rest of us have had voice recognition and key entry
for YEARS. Where you been...oh, up Apple's ass, right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOf1XQyxyHU
It works on Google.....IT WORKS ON EVERYTHING!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1tt_aeIAM8
Tazti works really good....but just EATS CPU.
Listen to the very end....it's for mobiles!
Larry
3fa84f...@w1g2000prk.googlegroups.com:
> To bad, so sad, if you can't have it!
>
> ;>)
>
>
>
How about a Japanese language robot controlled from any place on the planet
from Skype for free?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn1767PvMk8
Way cool....(c;
iPhone 3Gold
But you'll have to talk like Loyd Grossman
By Stewart Meagher: Tuesday, 18 November 2008, 10:17 AM
IT'S FOUR DAYS LATE but Google's Voice Search function has finally
appeared on the Iphone. And it really works!
There are some localisation issues for UK users but the app, available
free from Itunes, is really useful and, in a totally unintentional
way, a lot of fun.
Basically, Voice Search tends to get a little confused with the INQ's
perfectly plummy British accent and returns some unexpected results.
We wanted to stretch Google's voice recognition service to the full by
asking it to search for something quintessentially British, so we
booted up the application and held the handset up to our lughole.
The proximity detector built into the Iphone automagically detects
that you are holding the phone against your head and lets out a gentle
beep to let you know it's ready to recieve your words of wisdom.
"Indian Take Away" we asked in our best BBC-approved English.
The software takes a second or two to sample the voice clip and send
it off to a server somewhere across the pond to be interrogated by
some clever voice recognition voodoo. It really is quite impressive
that, in less than two seconds, we were learning everything we could
ever wish to know about something called the Indiana Raceway. D'oh!
Adopting a slightly mid-atlantic drawl and extending vowels until we
sounded like a slightly drunk Loyd Grossman garnered better results.
Speaking like Stephen Hawking's voice synthesiser thingy worked even
better.
"Swimming Pool" found us our local sports centre. "Apple Store"
returned results including directions to our local High Street outlet,
as well as links to the UK store online. "Taxi" was translated as
"sexy" which kept us busy for a few more minutes.
"Woolworths" sent us off to Norwood Massachusetts, regaled us with
tales of dwarfs and showed us how to make a Waldorf salad until we
tried saying it using our best John Wayne impression. Bingo! fourth
time lucky.
Sometimes it just goes completely bananas, a search for "Dunstable
Lock and Safe" returned results for "printable welcome sign"! Go
figure.
But if you don't mind looking a bit of a berk by bellowing in a cod
Yank accent into your phone in the middle of Chipping Sodbury High
Street and you're not expecting perfection - happy to be lead astray
on the internet with all the joys that can entail - this one could
become an Iphone essential. µ
iPhone 3Gold
Google, iPhone and the Future of Machines That Listen
By John Markoff
How do you talk to a search engine? In Googlish, of course.
Google’s new speech recognition service for the iPhone, which I wrote
about last week and which was released on Monday, understands you most
accurately when you speak to it just the way you enter queries into
the Google search box. That makes sense, because the system’s accuracy
comes from the billions and billions of typed queries that Google has
recorded over the years.
Google’s voice search software for iPhones. (Peter DaSilva for The New
York Times)
So don’t bother with polite formalisms like “What is the best pizza
restaurant in San Francisco?” Simply say “best pizza restaurant San
Francisco.”
After all, you’re talking to a dumb machine — or perhaps several,
distributed across multiple states.
The accuracy is far from 100 percent, and probably not even 95 percent
(Google execs demurred when I asked if they had any meaningful
accuracy statistics). My experience is that it captures your voice
query substantially more than half the time, and that in itself is a
revelation. It also makes the usual sampling of funny mistakes. (My
favorite was my inability to get it to recognize “Camp Unalayee,”
which I attended as a teenager. It would usually respond “Camp
Ukulele.” But heck, unalayee is a Cherokee word that means “place of
friends,” and ukulele is in the dictionary.)
Yet after five days of using the service it still seems better than
any speech recognition system I have used to date. It may even signify
an inflection point — speech recognition that is more useful than
typing.
I was initially intrigued by the Google Mobile App because I have been
following the progress of speech recognition research since the early
1980s. Progress in this field feels like watching paint dry. Yet the
industry’s visionaries have been unanimous in saying that we will talk
to machines — and they will understand us — someday.
It was probably in 1983 that researchers at SRI International
demonstrated how they could control simulated battleships with voice
commands (“go left,” “go right,” “stop,” that sort of thing).
Evolution has been slow because it turns out that recognizing speech
is a really, really hard problem. There are all the complexities of
language, plus accents and background noise.
In the past decade, however, progress has accelerated. The stakes are
very high and there are a number of big and small players. The search
giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo all believe speech recognition is a
prerequisite for the era of mobile computing. And there are lots of
others including I.B.M., Nuance and Vlingo that are developing speech
technology.
Although Microsoft hasn’t dominated in this area yet, the company has
been investing heavily in research in the field going back to the
1980s. Last year it spent close to $1 billion to acquire Tellme
Networks, a company based in Silicon Valley that supplies speech
recognition for the phone directory and operator assistance market.
“You want to be able to interact with your phone just like you would
with your mom or friends,” said Dariusz Paczuski, senior director for
consumer services at Tellme. “Voice is a great interface and it can
simplify interactions more than anything.”
Everyone agrees that in mobile applications, speech is the obvious
user interface. Whether it’s on a BlackBerry, an Android phone or an
iPhone, typing will always be error-prone and frustrating.
If one company makes a major breakthrough in voice, it is potentially
a major threat to its rivals, because a “speech interface” could
potentially allow one company to simply take over a handheld device
developed by another company.
For some time we seem to have been stuck at the stage where speech
recognition works, but just sort of. Perhaps we are at a moment like
the one when A.T.M.’s were first introduced. At first most people said
they preferred interacting with a human bank teller. Then, overnight
it seemed, everyone realized that the bank teller relationship wasn’t
all it was cracked up to be. Now most of us never set foot inside a
bank. How long before people find that it is more efficient to deal
with a robot on the phone than a human?
Enough with the future-gazing. Right now there is something compelling
about saying “backpacking trails Trinity Alps California,” and being
taken directly to a Web site listing all of the best ones.
If you’ve tried out voice searching with the Google Mobile App for
iPhone, leave a comment and let us know how it went.
iPhone 3Gold
Google is providing iPhone owners with means to search everything they
could possibly want through speech. An update to the free Google
Mobile App will enable it to sense when the user wants to do a voice
search, through the built in accelerometer, according to an YouTube
demonstration of the app.
A NY Times report reveals that Google researchers have achieved this
by adding sophisticated voice recognition technology to the Google app
available for free download via the iTunes App Store. If you need to
find out things, like where is the nearest restaurant, you actually
ask the phone “where is the nearest StarBucks” and Google Search will
instantly produce results. Best of all, the results are based on your
location.
So, whether you live in San Francisco, New York, or UK, the same
question is answered differently by the Google Mobile App, which
senses your location. Not to worry, though - you can still do your
text searches, and even use the app's convenient suggestions and
options to zero in on something.
It has been revealed in the NY Times report that Google’s advantage in
this field is the ability to store and analyze vast amounts of data.
“Whatever they introduce now, it will greatly increase in accuracy in
three or six months,” said Raj Reddy, an artificial intelligence
researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, who has done pioneering work
in voice recognition. “It’s important to understand that machine
recognition will never be perfect,” he added.
“The question is, How close can they come to human performance?”
iPhone 3Gold
> 4phun <vic.hea...@gmail.com> wrote in news:11865e54-dff1-4551-84d2-
> 3fa84f757...@w1g2000prk.googlegroups.com:
>
> > To bad, so sad, if you can't have it!
>
> > ;>)
>
> for YEARS. Where you been...oh, up Apple's ass, right.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOf1XQyxyHU
>
> It works on Google.....IT WORKS ON EVERYTHING!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1tt_aeIAM8
> Tazti works really good....but just EATS CPU.
> Listen to the very end....it's for mobiles!
To bad, so sad, you can't have it Larry!
All that have tried Google Voice including myself say this is light
years further down the road of Speech Recognition, and it is only on
the iPhone. It is a fun app just to use and very entertaining as well
as practical. And of course it doesn't run on Symbian or Mameo.
To bad, so sad
You can't have it!
Boo Woo Who Ha Ha
4phun
Google Voice Search, an early Christmas present for iPhone owners
Mobility
By Christian Zibreg
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:17
Mountain View (CA) – Google’s much anticipated voice search
application has finally arrived at Apple’s AppStore. And after playing
with the software for a few hours we have to say that we are deeply
impressed. There is something unique and mind-changing about being
able to pick up the handset, say "movie show times" and receive not
only general search results, but information about movie show times at
theaters in the area of your current geographical location.
Following a weekend of uncertainty and lots of speculation about
growing tensions between Apple and Google, the companies released
Google’s promised voice search iPhone application late on Monday. And
as far as we can tell, the software works just as we were told: You
pick up the handset, say a search query and the application returns
search results in text. "Just hold the phone to your ear, wait for the
beep, and say what you're looking for," wrote Dave Burke, Google
mobile team engineer manager in a blog post. "That's it. Just talk."
Although it was believed that Google would release the software as a
standalone application, the company updated its existing free iPhone
application called Google Mobile App with two new features: “Voice
Search” and “Search with My Location”. Google Mobile App is an iPhone-
optimized front-end interface to common Google services, like search
and maps. It can be used to start a Google search with a single click,
get relevant search and URL suggestions during typing, access past
searches and display nearby business suggestions on a map.
If you have ever worked with speech recognition software before, then
you know how much time can go into training an application to reduce
the error rate of recognized words and phrases. Voice Search does not
need any training. The software uses the iPhone’s accelerometer sensor
to detect when a user moves the handset close to the ear and
automatically switches to "listening mode" (which can be triggered
manually as well, simply by tapping the microphone icon.) Users can
also bring up the virtual keyboard to modify the search terms by
double tapping the search box.
Search with the “My Location” feature allows you to perform a local
search without having to specify where you are. The feature works in
tandem with geolocation features of the handset to deliver results
tailored to your current location. For example, if you pick up the
handset and say "restaurants", "weather", or "movie show times" you
will get corresponding information that is relevant to your current
geographical information displayed on a map. To make this feature
work, the “Location Services” option in the iPhone Settings needs to
be enabled – and users are required to agree that Google Mobile App
can tap into your location data.
So far, we have discovered only two drawbacks. First, when you click
on any search result, the application opens a link in Safari. This
goes against the idea of searching in a single application, because
you have to quit Safari and open Google Mobile App to perform another
search. We would love to see an app built into the web browser so that
we can perform searches and follow links on a results page - all from
within the application.
Second, you can't voice-search contacts in your address book, which is
understandable since the speech recognition feature does not run
within the application, but on Google servers. Also, we have to
mention that Voice Search is currently only available to U.S. users.
iPhone users who do not have an iTunes Store account that is
authorized through a credit card issued in the U.S. will not be able
to download the application until Google releases versions for other
markets.
Overall, this is one of the most useful iPhone applications available
today. It seems as if Google has found a way to remove the
experimental character from voice recognition and finally come up with
a solution that can be used on an everyday basis. A feature like this
on a cellphone would have been considered science-fiction just one
year ago.
It seems that, despite all rumors, Apple and Google are still buddies.
But we do have to say that we are a bit surprised that this feature
was introduced on the iPhone first and not on Google’s own G1 Android
phone sold by T-Mobile.
4phun
translation:
1) Google user speaks search string into phone.
2) Google gets it wrong, user corrects Google
3) Multiply by millions of searches daily with constant correction and
feedback from users
4) Perfect voice rec, major profit
There will be a few issues with voice recognition to begin with but as
it gets better and more people use the service and add to the database
with their corrections and add to the pool of variable accents etc the
accuracy will be perfected at an exponential rate.
A similar concept could apply to translations. Once voice recognition
is perfected and becomes the primary search input of choice then more
people will be able to use their phones as direct voice to voice
translators. Obvious translation mistakes will become apparent through
mass use. At every turn users could flag apparent mistranslations and
through the help of the Google Borg accurate translations would
evolve. Much the same way that Wikipedia pages tend to accuracy over
time even with the input of a subset of "disruptive" users.
George Kerby
On 11/17/08 11:10 PM, in article
5284c053-f7dc-4715...@o4g2000pra.googlegroups.com, "4phun"
<vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
Link is broken:
" Not Found
The requested URL /webobjects/mzstore.woa/wa/viewsoftware was not found on
this server.
Apache/2.0.58 (Unix) Server at phobos.apple.com Port 80"
4phun
this, dagnabbit?"
For the same reasons all the nerds despise the iPhone: because of it's
uniformity right across the board, powerful graphics and CPU and
consistent user experience. If you want to debut a powerful
application, the iPhone makes the most sense of any platform.
And given the fractured nature of every other vendors offerings, why
ruin the experiment on crappy inconsistent platforms?
Go with the best, someday release for the rest.
4phun
The app is FREE
Google Mobile Voice Search
Plus connection is FREE
Google Mobile Search for the iPhone doesn't require cell minutes as
the voice is transfered via data connection of Wifi or 3G
Plus results are FREE
and results aren't some crappy SMS or MMS message but full graphics
and RTF transfered via data connection again not using SMS units.
4phun
> On 11/17/08 11:10 PM, in article
> > =8
>
> Link is broken:
> " Not Found
>
> The requested URL /webobjects/mzstore.woa/wa/viewsoftware was not found on
> this server.
>
> Apache/2.0.58 (Unix) Server at phobos.apple.com Port 80"
That link activates iTunes App Store on a Mac or PC, does nothing in
Linux - dead end
Probably the App store is overloaded right now downloading that app.
4phun
> On Nov 18, 12:54 pm, 4phun <vic.hea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Go with the best, someday release for the rest.
>
Voice in Google Mobile App: A Tipping Point for the Web?
by Tim O'Reilly
As I wrote in Daddy, Where's Your Phone?, it's time to start thinking
of the phone as a first class device for accessing web services, not
as a way of repurposing content or applications originally designed to
be accessed on a keyboard and big screen. The release of speech
recognition in Google Mobile App for iPhone continues the process
begun with the iPhone itself, of building a new, phone-native way of
delivering computing services. Here are two of the key elements:
1. Sensor-based interfaces. Apple wowed us with iPhone touch
screen, but the inclusion of the accelerometer was almost as
important, and now Google has shown us how it can be used as a key
component of an application user interface. Put the phone to your ear,
and the application starts listening, triggered by the natural gesture
rather than by an artificial tap or click. Yes, the accelerometer has
been used in games like tilt, parlor amusements like the iPint, but
Google has pushed things further by integrating it into a kind of
workflow with the phone's main sensor, the microphone.
This is the future of mobile: to invent interfaces that throw
away the assumptions of the previous generation. Point and click was a
breakthrough for PCs, but it's a trap for mobile interface design.
Right now, the iPhone (and other similar smartphones) have an array of
sensors: the microphone, the camera, the touchscreen, the
accelerometer, the location sensor (GPS or cell triangulation), and
yes, on many, the keyboard and pointing device. Future applications
will surprise us by using them in new ways, and in new combinations;
future devices will provide richer and richer arrays of senses (yes,
senses, not just sensors) for paying attention to what we want.
Could a phone recognize the gesture of raising the camera up and
then holding it steady to launch the camera application? Could we talk
to the phone to adjust camera settings? (There's a constrained
language around lighting and speed and focus that should be easy to
recognize.) Could a phone recognize the motion of a car and switch
automatically to voice dialing? And of course, there are all the Wii-
like interactions with other devices that are possible when we think
of the phone as a controller. Sensor based workflows are the future of
UI design.
2. Cloud integration. It's easy to forget that the speech
recognition isn't happening on your phone. It's happening on Google's
servers. It's Google's vast database of speech data that makes the
speech recognition work so well. It would be hard to pack all that
into a local device.
And that of course is the future of mobile as well. A mobile
phone is inherently a connected device with local memory and
processing. But it's time we realized that the local compute power is
a fraction of what's available in the cloud. Web applications take
this for granted -- for example, when we request a map tile for our
phone -- but it's surprising how many native applications settle
themselves comfortably in their silos. (Consider my long-ago complaint
that the phone address book cries out to be a connected application
powered by my phone company's call-history database, annotated by data
harvested from my online social networking applications as well as
other online sources.)
Put these two trends together, and we can imagine the future of
mobile: a sensor-rich device with applications that use those sensors
both to feed and interact with cloud services. The location sensor
knows you're here so you don't need to tell the map server where to
start; the microphone knows the sound of your voice, so it unlocks
your private data in the cloud; the camera images an object or a
person, sends it to a remote application that recognizes it, and
retrieves relevant data. All of these things already exist in
scattered applications, but eventually, they will be the new normal.
This is an incredibly exciting time in mobile application design.
There are breakthroughs waiting to happen. Voice and gesture
recognition in the Google Mobile App is just the beginning.
Todd Allcock
> To bad, so sad, you can't have it Larry!
>
> All that have tried Google Voice including myself say this is light
> years further down the road of Speech Recognition, and it is only on
> the iPhone. It is a fun app just to use and very entertaining as well
> as practical. And of course it doesn't run on Symbian or Mameo.
To be fair, how long do you think it'll be before "every" phone has it?
The speech recognition is handled by Google's servers, not your phone.
Essentially all the iPhone is doing is recording a snippet of sound,
uploading it (along with your position) and waiting for Google to offer up
results- it's the search engine version of "Shazam."
Any device with a microphone, browser, and internet access can do this, but
Google knows what the press loves to write about. If they launched this
service for Motorola RAZRs first, no one would be talking about it! ;-)
(As evidence of this, MS put similar server-based VR in Windows Live Search
almost a year ago, but I don't recall seeing any press touting it.)
Ironically, while WLS' VR is limited to navigation-related searches (streets,
business names, categories like restaurants, hotels, shopping, etc.)
virtually every example in the articles and blogs quoted here were
location/lookup related and would've been valid searches in WLS (San
Fransisco pizza restaurants, Indian take-away, nearest Apple store, Camp
"Ukeliele", etc.)
Google's VR seems works about the same as the Windows Live Search VR (the
more you're willing to embarrass yourself by talking like a robot, the more
accurate it gets!)
> To bad, so sad
> You can't have it!
>
> Boo Woo Who Ha Ha
I've had (most of) it since February or so, IIRC, on WLS (WinMo's "killer
app," if there is one) but rarely use it unless conditions don't allow more
accurate input methods (like while driving.)
I suspect Google will toss this at Android next, followed by a Java version
then eventually WinMo, Blackberry, etc. native versions. The advantage to
Google of making it an app, is this allows them to become a search engine
of choice on any phone regardless of what search engine the cellco defaults
their phones' browsers to. (I.e. T-Mo places a Yahoo search bar on their
WAP home page. Many dumbphones have no easy way to change a home page, so
users will generally just use it, rather than going through additional work
to get to a different engine. However, consumers might select a Google VR
search app instead of launching the WAP browser.)
Todd Allcock
> "Why don't they let more than just iPhone users take advantage of
> this, dagnabbit?"
>
...they premier new commercials during the Super Bowl- everyone is watching
it! ;-)
Todd Allcock
> This is the first step to true and accurate voice recognition and
> translation:
>
> 1) Google user speaks search string into phone.
>
> 2) Google gets it wrong, user corrects Google
>
> 3) Multiply by millions of searches daily with constant correction and
> feedback from users
>
> 4) Perfect voice rec, major profit
>
> There will be a few issues with voice recognition to begin with but as
> it gets better and more people use the service and add to the database
> with their corrections and add to the pool of variable accents etc the
> accuracy will be perfected at an exponential rate.
Perhaps, but only in a spell-checker sort of way. The system will simulate
increased accuracy by replacing non-understood inputwith likely
possibilities based on things most people have searched for, in an "80/20
rule" methodology, "correcting" seldom used search terms you might have
actually wanted, into more popular ones you didn't. (I.e. a query for
"Seratonin" might return "Sarah Palin", since the latter currently gets far
more hits than the former.)
> A similar concept could apply to translations. Once voice recognition
> is perfected and becomes the primary search input of choice then more
> people will be able to use their phones as direct voice to voice
> translators. Obvious translation mistakes will become apparent through
> mass use. At every turn users could flag apparent mistranslations and
> through the help of the Google Borg accurate translations would
> evolve. Much the same way that Wikipedia pages tend to accuracy over
> time even with the input of a subset of "disruptive" users.
True, which will be state of the art until mobile devices get enough power
to handle speech recognition on-board instead of relying on a server. On-
board processing will allow the accuracy to evolve based on YOUR input alone,
rather than the input of the entire "herd" of users.
4phun
November 18, 2008 @ 12:20 am ·
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of Google’s new Mobile
Application for the iPhone.
1. To get Google Mobile App on your iPhone, go to the App Store and
search for “Google Mobile App,” or click on this link to install from
a computer. If you have an older version of Google Mobile App
installed, you might want to uninstall the older version before
installing the newer version.
2. Voice recognition is turned off by default for non-U.S. users.
To enable voice recognition, click on the “Settings” tab at the bottom
of the screen and slide “Voice Search” to ON.
3. If you hold the iPhone up to your ear and don’t hear the “baBUM”
sound to start talking, swing the iPhone down and back up to your ear.
Sometimes a little wrist flick helps to tell the iPhone you want to
search.
4. You can search things besides Google’s main web index. Do a
regular query such as [daffodil pictures]:
Daffodil pictures
then press on the magnifying glass near the top left corner to
bring up other options to search. By default you’re searching iPhone
and Web, but you can also search Maps, Images, News, Shopping, or
Wikipedia:
Daffodil pictures
Press an option like Images and the application will immediately
redo the query:
Daffodil pictures
5. If you want to go straight to the onscreen keyboard, you can tap
the “Search” tab at the bottom of the screen twice.
6. Searching with the keyboard can be very handy. As you type, the
application will suggest contacts, websites, previous searches, and
related query suggestions:
Outback Steakhouse
and do you see those query suggestions in the middle of the
screen? You can slide/flick them to get more suggestions:
Outback Steakhouse
7. The “Apps” tab at the bottom of the screen is a one-stop shop to
get to all your Google services easily, including Google Apps versions
of services:
Apps tab
8. You can use Google Mobile App with multiple Google Apps
accounts. In the Settings tab, click on Domain. Then you can add
multiple domains, separated by commas.
9. Google has posted HTML documentation for Google Mobile App and
also provides a Google Mobile Help discussion group.
Bonus tip #1: If the voice recognition is close, you can press on the
green query in the search box to see other possible queries. For
example, if you said [background gradients in css] and got this search
query:
Refining query
Notice that the query was recognized as “gradient” instead of
“gradients” with an ’s’. So I pressed the green query and saw other
possible queries:
Refining query
My desired query was the second choice. :)
Bonus tip #2: If you want to understand what your cat is trying to say
to you, start the voice recognition and just hold it up to their mouth
as they meow. Then Google will try to convert the meow into regular
English text. Thanks to Sean Harding for this tip.
4phun
> At 18 Nov 2008 09:40:14 -0800 4phun wrote:
>
>
>
> > This is the first step to true and accurate voice recognition and
> > translation:
>
>
> increased accuracy by replacing non-understood inputwith likely
> possibilities based on things most people have searched for, in an "80/20
> rule" methodology, "correcting" seldom used search terms you might have
> actually wanted, into more popular ones you didn't. (I.e. a query for
> "Seratonin" might return "Sarah Palin", since the latter currently gets far
> more hits than the former.)
>
Ha Ha this is a hoot!
I tried Todds example and found there is no such word. As Google
instantly came back with Serotonin not Seratonin or "Sarah Palin".
I even keyed it in exactly as Todd spelled it to double check - same
result!
Todd you need Google Voice Mobile too for fast accurate results. :>)
I just searched for the cure for a cold and mailed the results to
myself to explore on the PC.
George Kerby
On 11/18/08 12:20 PM, in article
9e26c869-8c73-4a5a...@u29g2000pro.googlegroups.com, "4phun"
<vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
Nope. I just went to the store and downloaded here on the iMac and sync the
iPhone no problem. Have been having a ball with it ever since.
That POS youtube video that Larry touted is right out of something that was
magic - thirty years ago, LOL!
But the link was, and still is, screwy...
4phun
PC World
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 1:10 PM PST
8 Reasons to Pick iPhone Over BlackBerry Storm
Lets face it, Apple designers have hit a home run when they created
the touch-screen-based iPhone. Apples design success is slick that
other phone manufacturers are diligently trying to recreate the
iPhone’s LFF (Look, Feel & Functionality). One of the latest phones to
enter the competition is the Blackberry Storm. While receiving glowing
reviews the Storm just does not quite make muster according to
PCWorld, particularly if you’re considering it as an iPhone
alternative.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/154131/iphone_beats_storm.html
Todd Allcock
"4phun" <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:e00759af-cdde-41b6...@v5g2000prm.googlegroups.com...
> PC World
> Tuesday, November 18, 2008 1:10 PM PST
> 8 Reasons to Pick iPhone Over BlackBerry Storm
>
> http://www.pcworld.com/article/154131/iphone_beats_storm.html
It was a "point/counterpoint" article. You missed the other link by the
same author (which Ron already posted in the AT&T NG):
http://www.cio.com/article/463019/RIM_BlackBerry_Storm_vs._iPhone_G_Reasons_to_Pick_the_Storm
Not to bash either article, but the author admits he actually hasn't used a
Storm yet, and based many of his points on how the current crop of
Blackberries work (i.e. he makes the assumption that the Storm's browser and
media player will be similar, or only marginally improved compared to the BB
Curve, etc.) Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I like my reviewers to actually
at least SEE a device before they start praising or bashing it! ;-)
4phun
Apple’s iPhone Apps Get a Life
By Roy Furchgott
I have previously chided iPhone App Store for not making it easier to
find what you want in the sea of more than 5,500 choices. But here is
a big step in the right direction, a nicely organized new web page
called “iPhone Your Life.” (Yeah, I know, shouldn’t the people who
make those innovative products and entertaining ads be able come up
with a better name?)
http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-your-life/
The page is loaded with tips and tricks for getting more out of your
iPhone, arranged by activity, like “At Home” and “World Travel.” The
site suggests apps that might be useful for that activity. Under
“Around Town,” it hawks a Yellow Pages app, one that reminds you when
your parking meter is running low, a taxi locator, and a way to find
nearby restaurants.
There is also a list of the basic apps, like “phone” and “mail” with
operating instructions and shortcuts to becoming a power user. You may
find features in your most common applications that you didn’t know
existed. Who knew that if you tap the iTunes Starbucks icon while in
the store it will tell you what song is currently playing?
MC
<8dceb90f-7a0b-4f01...@41g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>,
4phun <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
> November 19, 2008, 4:28 pm
> Appleąs iPhone Apps Get a Life
> By Roy Furchgott
>
> I have previously chided iPhone App Store for not making it easier to
> find what you want in the sea of more than 5,500 choices. But here is
> a big step in the right direction, a nicely organized new web page
> called łiPhone Your Life.˛ (Yeah, I know, shouldnąt the people who
> make those innovative products and entertaining ads be able come up
> with a better name?)
>
> http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-your-life/
<SNIP>
Thanks. Excellent link.
--
What Washington needs is adult supervision.
- Barack Obama
4phun
Research in Motion's BlackBerry Storm looks handsome enough, but it
will disappoint prospective buyers hoping for a credible touch-based
iPhone alternative.
Yardena Arar, PC World
Nov 20, 2008 12:01 am
BlackBerry fans who've been yearning for a touch-based handset à la
iPhone now have one, but the BlackBerry Storm--which Verizon Wireless
plans to start selling Friday for $250 with a two-year contract--might
not be the smart phone of their dreams.
The decision by Research in Motion to differentiate the Storm by
giving its capacitive touch screen a mechanical component (the entire
screen functions as a button for confirming selections or initiating
actions) turns out to be more confusing than helpful. Ultimately, the
Storm's touch interface feels like a failed experiment.
It's too bad, because the Storm has some nice features and makes a
great first impression. Encased in shiny black with silvery accents on
the front and a removable matte metal cover in the back, the Storm is
shorter, slightly narrower, and somewhat thicker than the iPhone--not
surprising since it packs support for Verizon Wireless's fastest
network (EvDO Rev. A), for quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, and for 2100-MHz
UMTS/HSPA networks, enabling overseas roaming on the fastest networks
available. The Storm also has a GPS receiver and Bluetooth, but no Wi-
Fi.
<Snip>
A Disappointing Touch
The touch-screen interface differentiates the Storm from its RIM
brethren--and there I was disappointed.
<snip>
Click to Type
Typing on the Storm isn't much fun, either. You have to click the
screen keyboard for each keystroke (the keys flash blue under your
fingertips as you click), which ends up feeling like a lot of work in
a way that typing on a hardware keyboard (or on the iPhone's software
keyboard, for that matter) never did. I worry, too, about how well the
mechanics of the click screen will hold up under the pressure of
continual use by heavy typers.
There's no obvious way to make the keyboard go away quickly, either,
if you want to see part of the screen that it's concealing.
<snip>
But people who were hoping for a credible iPhone alternative fortified
with BlackBerry's strengths as a mobile tool for corporate travelers
will likely find the Storm a disappointment. When it comes to touch
interfaces, Apple still has no peer.
[Even before seeing the BlackBerry Storm, some journalists had
reservations about it. Read a list of reasons to pick the iPhone over
the Storm by Al Sacco of our sister publication, CIO.]
http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,154212/printable.html
Jishnu Mukerji
> In article <7sl2i4pk70gihr0ma...@4ax.com>, Ron
> <ron.cl...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
>
>> Your snipping the link proving Continental did it last year in 2007,
>> doesnt make AA first.
>
> i *said* aa wasn't first, so there was no need to keep the link, and in
> my other reply, i specifically mentioned continental doing it before
> aa. i also said it had nothing to do with iphones and actually sounds
> like more of a pain than using a piece of paper. sometimes low tech is
> the best solution.
I agree that passing through TSA can be a pain if they insist on seeing
your boarding card immediately following the metal detector. Otherwise
it is fine. Notwithstanding that, I found it quite convenient to use at
the boarding gate at which point my iPhone (or any other phone with a
display) is readily available anyway.
Larry
4phun <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote in news:370ae3c4-07b0-460a-983e-
b673fe...@k36g2000yqe.googlegroups.com:
> BlackBerry's Storm: Awkward and Disappointing
> Research in Motion's BlackBerry Storm looks handsome enough, but it
> will disappoint prospective buyers hoping for a credible touch-based
> iPhone alternative.
>
Stop being so paranoid, Vic. It's $199 after the $50 rebate game to
collect data with so same price as the Fruit. The kiddies won't buy it
because it's not for them....as are any Berries. Storm is for the
businessmen, the men with the money. Their IT department has already
told them your Fruitoy isn't a business machine and the company won't
pay for its security risks to their IT system. They trust the
Blackberrys they've been using for years, so will allow all the execs to
swap their keyboards for the Storm, en masse. That's the market for it.
All the big holes in the Fruitoy, the Storm fills.....
Swappable battery
external memory card slot to put the desktop data on
cut and paste and easier word processing
push email they won't even have to change from the old Berries
all those things that matter to the businesses Iphone doesn't and won't
have. Don't tell me about the MS patch to iphone. They've not been
using it with their old Berries and their new Storm uses the same system
they've grown up with and TRUST, the biggest hill to get into any
businesses graces.
Outside business, the horrible Apple ad budget eating the company's
profits will still keep the kiddies in line, even with all its
shortcomings they hate. "Cool" is the target it fills, besides the
drink coaster app.
Verizon's shitty attitude towards data usage will kill it just like the
Voyager and all the smartphones before it. If you use the tethering,
you go from unlimited data for just the Storm to their shitty 5GB/month
SHARED between the Storm and your laptop you pay them $30/mo EXTRA for
just to turn the tethering function on. That will keep users from
tethering to the Storm, except for business which will pay whatever
Verizon wants for data. Business already has Verizon's cards in their
laptops so won't care. That billing is separate....and deductable. For
the individual users, like me, Verizon will turn us off with high
charges and addons, addons, addons....just like always.
Kevin Weaver
"Larry" <no...@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9B5C6D5FEC5...@74.209.131.13...
Mom and dad won't change from Verizon. The kids from the poll they took that
covers about 100 miles tells that most of the kids wanted a iPhone.
But there all on there mom and dad's account. Mom and Dad can't or won't
change to AT&T. A friend sells Verizon and has already has paid orders for
about 30 of them sight unseen. Once the kids get them, there going to show
there friends and so on.
Ron
<el...@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
>In article <Xns9B5C6D5FEC5...@74.209.131.13>,
> Larry <no...@home.com> wrote:
>
>> Storm is for the
>> businessmen, the men with the money. Their IT department has already
>> told them your Fruitoy isn't a business machine and the company won't
>> pay for its security risks to their IT system.
>
>I work for a Fortune 100 company that by and large uses Blackberries,
>but any employee is free to use his own phone. Awhile back they told
>everyone exactly what steps to go through to hook the iPhone up to the
>corporate system, to get BB-style functionality.
>
>And by "they told everyone," I mean they ADVERTISED it. It's not a
>hidden "you have to know whom to call" thing.
>
>It seems our IT infrastructure truly is one of support, not one of
>prescribing how any of 50,000 people must do something.
Thats the way an IT department should be. Make things easier for the
folks they support rather than make things easier for themselves.
>
>Larry, your extremism is beneath you--oh, wait, that's not extremism,
>that's an 8 year old girl. Never mind.
iPhone 3Gold
phone. It sure is nice not having to wait a lifetime to get an update.
I can feel the pain of those waiting for an update to a Sprint,
Verizon or T-Mobile phone. Does anyone know how many updates Apple has
rolled out this year?
--
iPhone 2.2 - What We Know So Far
Author: Robin Eddins
The exciting developments coming to the iPhone through the highly
anticipated release of firmware 2.2 have been consistently documented.
But now we want to bring you an overview of all the thrilling
advancements that will soon be available on an iPhone near you.
First, when can we expect the update already? Well, according to
MacRumors, we can expect its release on November 21st. The date has
not been confirmed and seems rather random considering there are no
planned events on that day. For something this huge and with so many
new changes you’d think a planned event would be appropriate, but in
true Apple style, they may just want to catch everyone off guard.
So far we have uncovered lots of gems hidden in the 2.2 beta 2
firmware, but even with all the discoveries, we found yet another rock
that was left unturned. Just discovered was new functionality of the
iPhone’s home button. Of course a single tap still exits any
application and returns to the home screen, but what about a single
tap when you are already on the home screen? In iPhone firmware 2.2 a
single tap returns the user back to the first page of the home screen.
That’s right, if you are one of those people that have pages and pages
of apps, one click brings you right back to see your SMS and other
favorite apps, no more finger swipe mania! Double tapping the home
button acts as it did before allowing you to choose to go to your
phone favorites or iPod.
Here’s a breakdown of everything that has been confirmed in the new
firmware after the jump:
App Store
* New category icons: An icon now appears next to each category
name. The icon is of an app that is currently in the store that
represents that category. The app icon Apple chooses to display next
to the category also changes sporadically, surely in only a way that
Apple can understand.
* Sorting within categories: Now when a user enters a category,
he will be able to sort the apps by “Top Paid,” “Top Free,” and
“Release Date.” Currently the apps only appear in order of release
date, so this will be a nice change for users looking to find quality
within a category.
* Multiple Screenshots: Users will now be able to see all the
screenshots of an application, just like they can on the desktop
iTunes rather than being limited to just one picture in the app
store.
* Report a Problem: Have a problem with an application? Does it
have a bug? Is it offensive? If so one click can send the note right
to the developer.
Podcasts
So what’s going on with Podcasts? well as previously reported , there
is a sexy new button on the iTunes tab bar that gives users the
ability to download podcasts directly from their iPhone.
* Both video and audio podcasts will be available for download
* Over-the-Air downloads on AT&T’s Edge and 3G networks (limit of
10MB)
* No file size limit when downloading over WiFi
Safari
It’s hard to improve on a good thing, so Safari will see very few
changes. The only confirmed change worth noting is the new newly
designed user interface to it’s address bar.
* The address bar on the top of the screen has been split into two
sections. Most of the space displays the URL, while the new section
contains room for a google search. When either area is clicked, the
view expands to the full size while the keyboard is displayed. It
matches the style Safari uses on the desktop, and makes the Google
search much more visible.
Maps
* Street View: Google street view is most likely the most highly
reported feature coming to the new firmware. iPhone users will now be
able to get the same view that was highly publicized for Android
Phones.
* Walking Directions: No car, no problem. Users will be able to
choose to get walking directions,the time estimates even change to
accommodate the slower mode of transportation. This is really handy
in crowded cities with one-way roads that don’t impact the walkers.
* Public Transportation: Find your way using only public
transit! Maps now offers directions and combines different means of
public transportation to get you to your destination. A true treat to
someone in a new city and with no rental car.
* Location Sharing: Maps now makes it a snap to send your current
location, or any other location to anyone you want via email. Launch
maps, drop a pin and simply email anyone you choose. If you receive a
location it launches your maps application and lets you directions
directly. So what’s the point of Loopt again?
Other Improvements
* Support for Audio Line-in: The headphone jack will be able to
take accessories that will allow users to record anything they wish,
including real instruments.
* Auto-Correction settings: This feature can now be turned off
for those of us who have mastered the iPhone keypad.
* Support for new languages
* Rating System: Also, as previously reported, the new rating
system will be implemented in 2.2. The rating system will prompt app
users to give a rating upon deleting an app, a questionable system.
It’s hard to image any user giving anything other than a 1 star rating
after DELETING an app.
Now, don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about the emoticons, however,
it’s still unclear if they will actually be included in the update and
we cannot confirm they will be there as of this time. Something almost
not worth mentioning is that now when you forget your voicemail
password, you will be prompted to call AT&T… I recommend skipping this
process and using the Direct Line app to get through.
iPhone 3Gold
The gloomier forecast
But the Storm isn't a perfect device either. And there are a few
things that I prefer on the iPhone. For one, the Storm lacks Wi-Fi.
Verizon Wireless' representatives told me they opted not to include Wi-
Fi because it adds "bulk, cost, and is a drain on the battery."
{ boo! Ha Ha if you are dumb enough to believe that.
Verizon's hand can not be in your pocket it you are using WiFi instead
of WZN.
The whole point of Verizon is to make as much as they can off any of
their captive suckers.
Verizon even charges $10 a month for the Storm to use that built in
GPS. }
But truth be told, I think Verizon didn't want Wi-Fi because the
company would rather have customers surf its 3G wireless network.
While 3G speeds are a huge improvement over 2.5G speeds, they simply
don't hold a candle to Wi-Fi. I can download e-mails and Web pages on
my iPhone when using Wi-Fi much faster than when I am using AT&T's 3G
network. And I can't imagine it would be much different on Verizon's
3G network.
Beyond its lack of Wi-Fi, I'd say that I prefer the touch screen
navigation and Web browsing experience on the iPhone to the Storm.
This of course, is a matter of personal taste. The new BlackBerry
browser is slick and it works well. It's definitely a huge improvement
over its older browsers. But zooming in on pages on the Storm requires
clicking a button or actually clicking the screen. And I prefer the
iPhone's pinching and brushing movements. But that's just me.
--
{ Bottom line, there is still nothing like an iPhone for the folks
stuck with Verizon. But the Storm is cooler than all that other crap
Verizon has. }
CNET CONCLUDES
Let's face it, Verizon's previous attempts at introducing a so-called
iPhone kliller have been lackluster. The LG Voyager and the LG Dare,
looked cool and sleek, but they weren't true smartphones. RIM's other
BlackBerry models have lacked the touch screen and cool factor.
Even though Verizon has not seen huge numbers of its subscribers leave
its network since the iPhone was first introduced a year and a half
ago, it has lost some as a result. But now, customers who are
satisfied with Verizon Wireless's coverage and network reliability,
won't have to leave to get a really cool device.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10103056-94.html
iPhone 3Gold
> Cnet's Take on BlackBerry's Storm
>
> The gloomier forecast
>
> But the Storm isn't a perfect device either. And there are a few
> things that I prefer on the iPhone. For one, the Storm lacks Wi-Fi.
> Verizon Wireless' representatives told me they opted not to include Wi-
> Fi because it adds "bulk, cost, and is a drain on the battery."
BusinessWeek panned all the new BlackBerrys today.
--
Review: New BlackBerrys cool but can't beat iPhone
By RACHEL METZ
More from BusinessWeek
NEW YORK
BusinessWeek concludes that best of the Rimm lot, was the BlackBerry
Bold 9000, which will be on the same AT&T network as the iPhone.
RIMM to AT&T?
"No garbage for you, we'll save it for Verizon and T-Mobile." ;>)
Todd Allcock
> Verizon Wireless' representatives told me they opted not to include Wi-
> Fi because it adds "bulk, cost, and is a drain on the battery."
>
> { boo! Ha Ha if you are dumb enough to believe that.
Why not? All the iPhone 2G buyers were dumb enough to believe that iPhones
didn't have 3G because 3G eats batteries! ;-)
> Verizon's hand can not be in your pocket it you are using WiFi instead
> of WZN.
Verizon fixed that last week. They now require all smartphone owners to
carry a $30 data plan, a move pioneered by AT&T and Apple. Coincidentally,
the recently released smartphones (i.e. Samsung Saga) suddenly include WiFi!
> The whole point of Verizon is to make as much as they can off any of
> their captive suckers.
Hmmm, how's that required data plan on your iPhone 3G treating you? Or T-
Mo' required data and text plan on the Google phone? Another iPhone
"first" everyone is copying.
Kevin Weaver
"iPhone 3Gold" <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:072f7add-d4ee-4fcf...@k36g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
App Store
Podcasts
Safari
Maps
Other Improvements
I see there still is no MMS, Copy and paste, etc. All things people are
asking for. No, they give you shit they want.
The number one requested thing was MMS. Almost a tie with copy and paste.
Once again, Apple gives you things they want, not what people want.
Kevin Weaver
"iPhone 3Gold" <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:5b8d37ab-797e-497e...@j35g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
The gloomier forecast
CNET CONCLUDES
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10103056-94.html
Why did they put in Wi-Fi into the iphone ? To keep users off the 3G thats
why. Try to dl a app or updates thru 3G. :) Your going to get a message
telling you nope can't happen. Connect thru Wi-Fi and try again. So that
unlimited plan has limits when using 3G. Little small apps sometimes can be
got from the 3G but a major amount of them won't.
4phun
Palm losing out as iPhone gains corporate fans
Posted by Tom Krazit
The Palm Treo 750, Palm's flagship product the last time it was a
major player in corporate smartphones almost two years ago.
Perhaps no one has benefited as much from the downfall of the Treo
than Apple.
On Thursday, ChangeWave released the results of an otherwise dismal
survey predicting a tough time ahead for anyone who relies on
corporate IT spending for their livelihood. But the news was good for
those in the smartphone business not named Palm; smartphone shipments
to U.S. corporations are expected to grow even as overall IT spending
falls.
And Apple's iPhone is seeing the bulk of the growth, according to
ChangeWave. Companies still love Research in Motion's BlackBerry, but
the iPhone is picking up ground.
Todd Allcock
"Kevin Weaver" <kevinkei...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:llnVk.8832$YU2....@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com...
> Why did they put in Wi-Fi into the iphone ? To keep users off the 3G thats
> why. Try to dl a app or updates thru 3G. :) Your going to get a message
> telling you nope can't happen. Connect thru Wi-Fi and try again. So that
> unlimited plan has limits when using 3G. Little small apps sometimes can
> be got from the 3G but a major amount of them won't.
Based on the error messages on my wife's iPhone, the app size limit seems to
be 10MB before the device demands a Wifi connection.
Oddly, that seems to be hardcoded in the firmware, rather than a
network-generated error. My wife's phone is unlocked and on T-Mobile, so it
should be immune to any AT&T network-generated restrictions. In contrast,
back when I used the $6/month "T-Mobile Web" data plan (which like the AT&T
iPhone plan is "unlimited") it was the T-Mo network itself that blocked
access- (attempting to download files over 950k, regardless of what phone
was used, resulted in a "network error." The sole exception was e-mail
attachments which could be larger.)
Larry
7ba105...@k36g2000yqe.googlegroups.com:
> we cannot confirm they will be there as of this time
No cut and paste....................................shit!
4phun
updated 52 minutes ago
Obama's cell phone records breached
In an internal company e-mail obtained by CNN, Verizon Wireless
President and CEO Lowell McAdam disclosed Wednesday that "the personal
wireless account of President-elect Barack Obama had been accessed by
employees not authorized to do so" in recent months.
Good old Verizon...
Larry
dfd717...@j38g2000yqa.googlegroups.com:
All landline phone records for every call you make from your home phone are
stored by a company run by the Mossad in Isreal. Noone seems to find that
interesting except me, it seems.....
I'm crazy. I don't think ANY records of what Americans do should be
allowed to cross our borders.
Bob Haar
> All landline phone records for every call you make from your home phone are
> stored by a company run by the Mossad in Isreal. Noone seems to find that
> interesting except me, it seems.....
Please provide reputable sources for this. Or did you forget to wear your
tin foil helmet?
> I'm crazy.
OK.
News
4phun wrote:
Good old McCain campaign bundler VRZN Chairman Ivan Seidenberg....
Larry
news:C54C0027.434EBF%bob...@comcast.net:
http://www.williambowles.info/spysrus/israel_spies.html
Fox News good enough for you? Here's the transcript.
geez.....idiot
Company is called Amdocs
Todd Allcock
> > OK.
> >
> >
>
> http://www.williambowles.info/spysrus/israel_spies.html
>
> Fox News good enough for you? Here's the transcript.
>
> geez.....idiot
>
> Company is called Amdocs
Yep, a large international, publically-traded company headquartered in
Mossad-controlled Missouri. It's founders and current CEO are Israelli-
youhave that part right.
While many American Telecommunications companies are clients, so is China
Mobile. If the Chinese think their call records are safe with Amdocs, I
doubt we have anything to worry about.
Ever wonder why Fox pulled all references to that report from their website
and never reaired it? Maybe it was the pressure from those Missouri
Illuminati Jews?
iPhone 3Gold
> Bob Haar <bobh...@comcast.net> wrote innews:C54C0027.434EBF%bob...@comcast.net:
Larry I already knew your post was accurate. I think it was quite a
scandal buried by the religious fanatics in government.
http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=Israeli+Spy+Ring
Lets start using those free Google tutorial links for those who do not
know how to use Google.
Anyone can verify a post using a good search engine.
Teach them how one person at a time!
4phun
performance improvements that could reduce the number of dropped
calls, the latest software update for the iPhone released on Friday
also plugs holes that could expose data on locked phones.
The update plugs a hole that lets someone with physical access to a
passcode-locked device to launch applications ...
http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=iPhone+update+makes+device+far+more+secure
Ron
wrote:
I'm old enough for this to sound just like the Watergate Breakin,
where they were lookin for info on the Democrats. This time someone
likely had the ideas they'd find all of Obama's phone calls to William
Ayers. They didnt find any so the story didnt come out till now.
Bet they'll find some Verizon employee works for the White House
Plumbers.
News
Ron wrote:
Maybe, but we know for sure they work for Ivan Seidenberg.
Use...@postedonline.ltd
wrote:
>In addition to adding features like Street View on Google Maps and
More crap from Apple; the iPhone star has crashed once again.
Larry
news:qbnei4hkmh1m0penh...@4ax.com:
> I'm old enough for this to sound just like the Watergate Breakin,
> where they were lookin for info on the Democrats. This time someone
> likely had the ideas they'd find all of Obama's phone calls to William
> Ayers. They didnt find any so the story didnt come out till now.
> Bet they'll find some Verizon employee works for the White House
> Plumbers.
>
>
Nonsense, the usual elitist cults like CFR, Trilateral Commission,
Bilderbergers, Illuminati, have been grooming Obama just like they groomed
Clinton to be president since he was in college. More evidence came out to
support this theory today.
Hillary is about as qualified as Joe the Plumber to be Sec of State
The Federal Reserve Private Bank Corporation elite have installed one of
their own employees to make sure the Treasury Department is fully
infiltrated, just like always.
Nothing has changed. The bankers are still in control of the gummit, same
as always.
I did find it amusing how the real wall street "experts" were just bubbling
on business TV talking about how the NY Fed President was a government
leader to the masses on American TV, which none of them can possibly be
that stupid and still hold a major sheepskin from an elite university....
The same old debt slavery scheme the gummit has run on with PLANNED
recessions and DEPRESSIONS to reset the system for more inflation to keep
the debt machine well oiled since 1913 is running as it always has....
....history repeating itself....boom, bust, recession, depression, more
wars, boom, bust, recession, depression, more wars...
Larry
2977rUnZ2dn...@speakeasy.net:
> Maybe, but we know for sure they work for Ivan Seidenberg.
>
>
Is he Irish Catholic??
4phun
> News <N...@Group.name> wrote in news:6N6dnUeBr-
> 2977rUnZ2dnUVZ_u2dn...@speakeasy.net:
>
> > Maybe, but we know for sure they work for Ivan Seidenberg.
>
> Is he Irish Catholic??
Like Kennedy and Cohen?
I worked for that firm and it was Jewish from the get go. The name was
cleverly selected to mislead the public. A typical tactic in certain
circles.
Todd Allcock
> I work for a Fortune 100 company that by and large uses Blackberries,
> but any employee is free to use his own phone. Awhile back they told
> everyone exactly what steps to go through to hook the iPhone up to the
> corporate system, to get BB-style functionality.
>
> And by "they told everyone," I mean they ADVERTISED it. It's not a
> hidden "you have to know whom to call" thing.
>
> It seems our IT infrastructure truly is one of support, not one of
> prescribing how any of 50,000 people must do something.
To be fair, your company is the exception rather than the rule. Many are
more restrictive, and I suspect that's dependent on security concerns- i.e.
can the device be remote-wiped if lost, can the on-device security be
circumvented easily by "power users", etc.
My wife works for the Feds, and after one too many "stolen/missing laptop"
scandles on the news, went security crazy. They had already required
Blackberries only for mobile access (but you could use your personal one,
if you chose), but then they also locked down laptop use by requiring RSA
keyfobs or cards (random password generators that issue new passwords once
a MINUTE) to access their Exchange server anywhere outside the government
WAN.